The Yearning of a Young Boy's Heart
by NelioBelmont
Summary: A story of the strange relationship between Ryu and Ken over the ten years of training they did growing up. This story was originally created as part of the 10 Settings community on Live Journal, however has evolved into a full story.
1. Chapter 1

Setting #1: The Lake

Timeline: Year 3 of Ken's Training – Summer.

Ryu looked away to shield his face from splashing water as Ken dived in. The hot weather as of late had really taken a toll on the two after a long day of hiking and training; but now they finally had some time to relax in the lake near their temple. Ken's hair was flowing in the air no longer restrained by his red hair band, and too was Ryu in a rare moment in which he was not wearing his head band, leaving both bands with their Gis on the shore.

The sky was clear, and the mid afternoon sun was starting to show its effects on Ken's Caucasian tanned skin; but nonetheless he continued to swim with his close friend, while Ryu who's naturally tanned skin provided him with more than adequate protection against the radiation. In fact only twice in the three years that the two had known each other had Ken ever seen Ryu get sun burnt.

The two playfully raced to the center of the lake with Ken in the lead as always. In their rivalry, Ryu always kept a level head and while he never lacked effort at the competition with his friend, he only ever pushed himself when they were in a serious situation such as a match. And so Ken reached the center of the lake with a cheerful smile on his face as he came to a stop.

"Looks like I win again Ryu." He said followed by a quick but loud laugh and Ryu arrived a moment later.

"What's the hurry, afraid you'll get a burn?" Ryu smiled with his retort. The two boys looked each other in the eyes, both thinking the same thing. Ken held up his hand with three fingers extended, and began a silent countdown. Both of them took a deep breath, and then at the count of zero, dived into the water heading all the way to the bottom of the lake; easily 35 or more feet deep.

In the water of the lake, everything was clear and the two could see each other in perfect clarity, their focus this time was reach the bottom and grab a hold of something. They both reach the bottom at about the same time, and then using their feet, managed to snag something that would keep them from floating up. The two boys stared at each other while holding their breath, a smile across both of their faces as bubbles slowly escaped from their mouths.

The stayed like that for a moment, and slowly time passed as they stared at each other occasionally looking at other surroundings and even the other as they have both taken on a somewhat awkward position. Thirty seconds had past, and both boys felt the burning in their lungs and they realized they both needed to get another breath; but that wasn't how their game worked. Ryu occasionally looked up towards the surface, but each time he did Ken just smiled more and shrugged his shoulders; Ken was never one to let other seem him worry, and that had gotten him into lots of trouble at the temple during their practice sessions and chores.

After a little more than a minute, both boys were reaching the limits of their endurance, and Ryu then physically pointed up towards the surface. Ken was obviously at this point feeling the effects of holding his breath for so long, but smile and then slowly kicked at Ryu. Ken's leg connected with Ryu's thigh and succeeded in knocking his foot loose. Ryu rolled his eyes for a moment as he saw some bubbles escape from Ken's mouth during the maneuver, and then started swimming towards the surface. Ken let go also and began swimming towards the top right behind Ryu.

A few moments later Ryu broke the surface of the water and immediately took a deep breath as he fell floating on his back. He spread out his arms and legs as he floated there breathing heavily while waiting for Ken to coming up and boast about winning. He wondered what Ken would gloat about first; getting to the bottom or Ryu leaving first? Ryu smiled as he though about the over competitive nature of Ken, and couldn't help but wonder if that was part of his American upbringing.

A moment later Ken still had not come up, and while Ryu was still pulling in breath, and then he suddenly realized what had happened. Almost instantly he turned over and dived back in search of his friend who he thought was only right behind him. One look told him different; he saw Ken's unconscious body slowly falling down towards the bottom. Ryu's eyes widened as he saw this and immediately picked up the slack as he swam as fast as he could. He reached the body; Ken's eyes rolled up barely visible, and not a sign of breath in him. Ryu reached around Ken getting his arm securely around his friend's abdomen, and pulled his body up as fast as he could swim. Ryu succeeded in getting Ken's bare body to shore, but Ken was not breathing.

"Stupid fool" Ryu said as he started to do what he could to resuscitate Ken and make him breathe. Ryu never had proper training in any type of CPR, but he had once himself almost drowned and remembered his master over his chest with his hands over Ryu's solar plexus. From that example, Ryu did what he could and applied sudden and strong pressure to Ken's chest hoping to pump out as much water as he could.

Ken was lucky that day, for had Ryu been just a few moments late with his rescue, or not put enough strength into those pushes, Ken might not have made it. The pain of the bruised ribs he had the following weeks served as a constant reminder that the two of them had a bond that went beyond friendship, one that either of them would do anything to keep.


	2. Chapter 2

Setting #2: On a Roof

Timeline: Year 4 of Ken's Training – Spring

Ryu was lying on the roof of the temple; the light of the full moon reflecting off his bare chest. A half hour earlier, Ryu had awoken from a very real and very disturbing dream. It had not been the first, and would not be the last. Ryu stared at the moon lost in thought over not just what he had dreamed about, but what he had felt about in that dream. A dark, angry, dominate, and perhaps even erotic feeling that was scary and yet at the same time intoxicated; the seduction of the dark devious nature in us all. Though Ryu didn't know what it was he felt at that point in time, all he knew is that he both dislike and yet craved it.

"There you are." Ken called out as he came climbing up the ladder next to Ryu, "What's wrong, can't sleep again?"

"Your snoring kept me awake" Ryu replied in a very flat tone.

"Hey, you know me; when sensei works me hard you hear it all night." Ken laughed, but became concerned when Ryu didn't even move. Ken laid down next to Ryu on the roof, his uniform shirt open to better feel the night air. They stayed like that for at least ten minutes.

"Ken, I've been thinking" Ryu started, "when we spar with each other, or any of the other students… do you feel anything?"

"Sure" Ken jumped in, "I feel pumped. I mean, I love a good match; knocking them down, reading their moves, even taking a good blow."

"I mean, anything deeper." Ryu continued.

"Oh, you mean that spiritual stuff that the master is always going on about. Hmm…" Ken scratched his head, "Well I guess sometimes I feel kind of scared when I fight."

"You, scared?" Ryu said as he looked over at his friend.

"Sure, I mean we all do from time to time. Like when that big guy the other day, he really had me pinned down good; I thought he might break my back with that hold."

"If you had a person in a spot like that Ken… how would you feel?"

"Pumped, like man, if I were that guy, I would have kneeled down next to his ear and whispered something in his ear like, 'If you don't give now, I'll bend you leg back and make you scream in front of the whole school."

"Ever think of doing something more… like something illegal just to make them struggle?"

"What do you mean Ryu? Like…"

"You know, grab something… Or maybe choke them a little?"

"You serious?" Ken said as he looked over to Ryu. He didn't say anything as he stared up at the moon, but after a moment he nodded.

"That's kind of screwed up; I mean the thing that gets me really pumped is knowing that it is a fair fight. I mean, all is fair in combat and all, but openly cheating like that. Like, if somebody grabbed me there, I'd be pretty mad… maybe even pissed."

"That is what scares me…" Ryu continued, "there is something about acting like that… that is kind of… oh never mind." Ryu turned on his side facing away from Ken.

"Hey" Ken said as he put his arm on Ryu's forearm, "We can't think that way. We fight fair, that is what Master is always talking about right? I mean, I fall asleep all the time, but even I know that." Ken gave off a little bit of a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, no matter what, we got to play straight. I can't help but to wonder though Ken, is it okay to do that type of stuff if they do it first?"

"Why, did somebody do something like that to you?"

"Nah, but I had a dream about something like that." For the first time that night, Ryu smiled.

"Heh, leave it to you to dream about fighting. I got better things to dream about bud."

"Like that big car you dad promised you when you were done with your training?" A moment later Ryu felt a sudden kick in his back that almost caused him to roll down the roof. He reached out his hands and grabbed a hold of whatever he could, then glared at Ken.

"What was that for?!" Ryu demanded. Ken smiled,

"Hey, I'm here because I want to learn; not because my folks wanted to get rid of me."

"Yeah, I know." They both went silent for awhile.

"Sorry I said that Ken." Ryu said a few minutes later.

"No problem." Ken jumped up to a standing position, "I'm going to try that whole sleeping thing again, you going to camp out on the roof some more?"

"Probably, might sleep out here too."

"Alright, but won't you get cold?"

"Nah, I like waking up with the mist all over me."

"Suit yourself." Ken said as he descended the ladder back to their room.

Shortly after Ken had left, Ryu laid again on his back as he started to feel the coldness of the night give him goose bumps. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, and then thought again about his dreams. He continued to wonder how good or bad it would be to just once, embrace the desires he was starting to feel.


	3. Chapter 3

Setting #3: In the Forest

Timeline: Year 5 of Ken's training – Fall

The forest was calm today, with many of the leaves blowing in the wind. The birds were as talkative as ever and every now and then the wild life would make itself present with little fear of the two boys hard at work within their domain. The trail to the forest was littered pine needles, dried leaves, and on occasion a few stray rocks the were embedded into the dirt. Running over these paths Ken and Ryu chased one another, their uniform loose and open allowing for the autumn breeze to sooth their heated bodies.

"Wait up Ryu!" Ken yelled as he chased after his friend, a little bit of a limp in his foot due to the rough terrain of the forest path.

"You didn't wait for me back at the stream!" Ryu replied playfully and he kept his lead. The two continued to run, with Ryu continuing to gain a gradual yet dominate lead due to the natural protection from the calluses on his feet; with any luck, Ken should be developing more after this week's venture into the forest.

The two eventually came to a halt for a rest in a small clearing. Ryu sat down on a medium sized rock while Ken crashed on the ground taking up a laid-out comfortable position.

"In much of a hurry?" Ken asked in an overtly playful tone.

"Hey, you could have at least waited for me to get my pants on from swimming back at the river this morning, watching you hop around on those rocks is just payback." Ken reached down and rubbed his feet. There were a couple cuts from rocks, but noting major.

"The rocks out here are really sharp." He protested; Ryu laughed.

"Didn't think you were the type to complain about little things like that."

"Hey, you know me, I can take it" Ken jumped up and did a couple of jabs in the air with his fist, "just like I can take you." Ryu rolled his eyes at Ken's display of ego, and then slowly stood up. Ken held out his hand, and Ryu grasped it; a somewhat non-traditional way for starting a match, but more of a friendly gesture between two friends.

"Good luck Ryu, you will need it."

"Oh, you so sure?"

"Of Course!" And with that before Ryu could react, Ken shifted himself around and caught Ryu in tight a head lock.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Ryu protested and he struggled in the hold.

"Yeah, and so is this!" Ken said as he took his knuckles and rubbed them harshly into Ryu's hair in a somewhat humiliating fashion. Ryu struggled more and then used is back leg to knock out one of Ken's; the shift in balance then allow him the moment he needed to grab Ken by his shirt and throw him over his shoulder. Ken landed on one foot but fell on his rear a split second later not fully being able to absorb all the force. He then jumped up and the two engaged in a normal match.

The match ended with Ken pinning Ryu to the ground face first, one of Ken's knees on Ryu's left arm, and the other on his left shoulder partially on his back holding him down, all with a wrist lock in place.

"Say it, say it!" Ken said with some laugher, while Ryu just let out a grunt. Ryu used his right arm to try to push up his body, even with Ken's weight on it, but it was too much strain on his chest.

"Poor little Ryu" Ken said as he kept the wrist lock in place, "I don't think you can do it." Ryu pushed with his as much strength as he could muster, but Ken had him pinned down good.

"If you don't get me off Ryu, I'm going to keep this held on for a half hour!" Ken smiled as he said this, knowing that there was actually a really simple way to escape the hold. The pain from the maneuver though was limiting Ryu's thoughts, and could only think of trying to get out of the hold. As every moment passed, Ken felt more and more amused; and that amusement burned away at Ryu, at something deeper inside of him.

"Alright right, I'll ease up a little, but I'm still not letting you out till you say uncle!" Ken said as he removed his right knee from Ryu's shoulder blade. Ryu then again tried to over power Ken by pushing up with his right arm; but the position was still too awkward to be able to get enough leverage, but he still tried. He could feel the torque, feel the stretching and straining of muscles as he lifted his arm and then his chest of the ground as started to perform the most intense push up he had ever tried. A moment later, his arm gave out and his chest fell back to the ground where it had started, upon which was followed by a playful laugh from Ken. Ryu's pivoted his face to look towards Ken and see his single knee pressing down on his forearm.

"Alrig…" Ryu almost said it, but he hated the words that were about to come out of his mouth, he knew he could do it. Perhaps it was some deeply rooted sense of pride that required... demanded that he not give in, but nonetheless, the boy glared at Ken while feeling the strain in his arm continue. Then he realized what he had to do to win, or if not what he had to do, what he could do to win. In Ken's overconfidence, he had left himself exposed, at least partially to Ryu. His right leg was pulled back down by Ryu's ribs while his left leg spread up to hold down Ryu's arm with Ken half pressed on Ryu's back to keep him pinned… a perfect opening. Ryu glared, his eyes squinted, and he focused on that vitals spot, that area of weakness that both him and Ken shared, and that they were taught never to exploit out of honor. Ryu stared at it and he could feel something in his body… in his blood building; an irresistible urge to take advantage of the situation and make Ken pay for this humiliation.

"Looks like I'm going to spend the whole time here, guess I'd better get comfortable." Ken said aloud and now he jab his elbow into Ryu's back so that he could lean on it and better support himself. Ryu winced in pain again, as he reached the breaking point. He pulled his right arm around, stretching the tendons in his shoulder in the process, and managed through the pain to get it over to the other side of his body above his left shoulder. Ken yawned and continued to taught, but in that hubris, he completely overlooked what Ryu was about to do. Ryu now reached his right arm up off the ground, up towards Ken's left knee which continued to restrain Ryu's left shoulder. Ryu focused his eyes even more and his hand got closer and closer to his target, and for a moment Ryu envisioned Ken screaming in pain when he would clasp his hand… his fingers shut on the target. That sweet moment… and then Ryu understood.

Ryu's eyes opened wide from their squinted and closed position, having now realized just what he was about to do. He thought for a moment how he could be so weak to give into such a stupid and easy temptation.

"Ken, I give." He said as he then dropped his hand to the ground. Ken, a little surprised by Ryu's actions, patted him on the back and then released the hold while back rolling away from him. Ryu pulled himself off the ground while rotating his shoulder to stretch and relax the muscle. The two smiled at each other, because as much fun as this had been, they both knew they had four more days in the forest together until they could return to the temple.


	4. Chapter 4

Setting #4: In the Rain

Timeline: Year 6 of Ken's Training – Spring

It had been raining for nearly two days straight at the temple; obviously it was the rainy season in Japan. Regardless of that though, Ryu and Ken's training continued as usual, no matter the weather or condition they may be in. This was not quite the case tonight for their master had decided to move up the training to the next level. While both Ryu and Ken may both still be boys, they had made considerable progress in their training, perhaps motivated by their constant rivalry and close friendship.

It had been six years since Ken came to the temple; a rich kid from America who's parents wanted him to learn discipline and not grow into a novel rich. In those five years, he had seen Ken mature from a lazy kid into a not always so lazy teen who had real drive when he could find the motivation. What he had not expected was the bond that would form between both Ryu and Ken over those years, and how aside from friendship, they would feed off of each other and become so close. Now was the time to move up their training.

Mid afternoon that day, after dinner had been served to all the students, the master summoned Ryu and Ken to the outside training area. In his usual manner, he arrived late to the training field by ten minutes, and as expected both Ryu and Ken were waiting there in a neutral stance position. Both of them were soaked at this point from the rain, and while the master was pleased to see their discipline and patience, he kept a flat face and slowly walked to the two boys. The master faced them, which was immediately greeted with a low bow from the boys. Once the formalities were out of the way, the master spoke.

"I've called you here today because I've decided to move up your training. You have both shown some level of advancement, and I am hesitant to teach you these advanced techniques because normally a person would require five or more years beyond what you have trained to reach this point; but you two have showed considerable advancement with each other and I am proud. I will say that I am hesitant to believe you two are up to the challenge, do you agree?" Everything remained silent for a moment other than the sound of the falling rain, and after a moment of Ken spoke up.

"Master, your doubt is misplaced. I am up for any challenge, even if I am not able to complete it." The master nodded his head in approval and then turned his attention to the left, towards Ryu.

"Master, in the last years I have struggled to control myself and hone my skills as a fighter. I feel… I know I am ready for the trust you will bestow upon me." That master nodded again and then removed his bamboo hat setting it on the ground.

"The rain is soft, gentle, and yet cruel. That is how you must be if you want to win. First you must feel it, feel yourself, and feel what you will become." The master then fell into a back stance, and almost instantly, Ryu and Ken followed. The rain started to pour as there was a stroke of lightning in the sky.

"Become the storm." The master said he then jumped into the air at his pupils, and let out a sudden cry. Ryu and Ken, a little surprised, jumped back instinctively not sure what was going on. The master then in mid air began to glow slightly; Ken and Ryu couldn't believe their eyes. His aura, his Ki… it was manifesting itself.

Then the rumble of thunder came, and the blue energy focused into their master's hands. All within a second, the master released the power towards them; a ball of blue energy. The energy impacted the ground between the two, both of them in shock looked at the spot where the energy had hit. Their master landed on the ground again placing his arms in his sleeves as they always were.

Ryu and Ken stared at the spot, a small amount of smoke rose from the spot. Ken turned towards his master.

"How did you do that?!" Ken asked in a demanding tone. Ryu stared at the spot and whispered something to himself, while his master watched both boys.

"That was the Haduoken, a secret technique passed down through our school. Only the best are able to manifest their Ki energy like this, though others have learned to manifest it in different ways."

"Master, you will teach this to us tonight?" Ryu asked still looking at the spot.

"This power is not something you can learn over night, but something you must learn like everything else. I feel you two are both at the point to learn your new techniques, but first I need to see if your Ki is strong enough yet to support such power." Ryu and Ken looked at each other, not sure what would be coming next.

"What shall we do master?" Ryu asked first.

"This storm" the master said as he raised one of his hands up to catch a few droplets of rain, "This will be a good way to test your strength." The master then walked up to Ryu and Ken and put one of he hands on each of the boy's shoulders. He tightened his grip on the boy's shoulder, but neither moved. The grip grew tighter, perhaps impossibly tight, and it was obvious that the boys were feeling pain. Still nobody moved as the rain continued to pat down on their bodies.

There was another sudden flash of light as are particularly large arc of lightning crossed the sky, and in that moment the master made a move. With a single gesture and wave of his hand, he pulled the uniform tops of each of the two boys from their bodies; removing their protection from the rain. The water began to drip on their shoulders, though they were already damp from the soaked uniforms. Ryu and Ken looked at each other, and then back at the master.

"Close your eyes, and focus your Ki. Become one with the storm and feel the rain. Feel it, accept it as part of you." Both boys closed their eyes, and relaxed as they felt the rain roll down their bodies. A sudden gust of wind came and made both Ryu's headband and Ken's hair blow in breeze; the master nodded.

"You must feel the power of your Ki, of yourself. Accept all things as they come, such as the cold wind" another gust came, "the wet ground, and the icy rain."

Ryu and Ken could feel the muddy earth below their feet, and the sudden but sharp pain in their backs as the rain briefly became hail.

"Good, feel it, feel yourself. Accept it, all things, even pain." The master said as he then reached out with both hands again and this time touched the base of the boy's chest just below the throat. He inserted his index finger into the joint, pressing into the throat.

"Take a deep breath." He ordered to the boys, and they obeyed. The master closed his eyes feeling something about the boys… their fear, determination, pain, and passion; the master nodded again.

"I can feel you; you are both very strong in spirit." The master moved his hand down their chest to their abdomen.

"Here is the center of your power, the bases of your Ki. Can you feel it?" All was silent for a moment.

"Yes" Ryu responded first, "I can feel something building, something burning."

"Burning?" The master asked.

"Something is there, I've felt it before." Ryu continued.

"I can feel something too master, something hot." Ken spoke up.

"That is the nature of your Ki, the source of your power. I can feel it." The master pressed on their abdomens, almost driving his fingers into their gut in the process. He held it for a moment as the boys continued to feel everything; the rain, the wind, their master's hand, and their ki. Another moment passed, and the master moved his hands to each of their right hands, and grabbed a hold of their wrist. Slowly he moved their hands to their abdomen, putting the hands flat on their solar plexus.

"So different you two are, and yet so very much the same. Open your eyes and see each other." The boys did as they were told, and for the first time they could see each other in a new different way. Ken could feel the burning from himself, and something about that feeling made him see something in Ryu, something under where his hand was… a faint blue glow. Likewise Ryu looked at Ken and saw a red glow from under Ken's hand, but only after feeling something cool and calm inside of himself. The master took their other hands and placed it on the others chest.

"Feel each others Ki, feel the strength each of you have. Feed off of it, and know you two are the same." The two boys pressed into each other chest, firmly planting their entire hands over the left side of the others upper chest. They pressed further, until they could feel the beating of the others heart.

"I can feel it master, Ken's spirit" Ryu said, "I can feel his Ki in my hand, something warm yet gentle."

"Can you feel Ryu's Ken?" The master asked.

"I can feel something… something cold yet calm. It feels like Ryu, smells like him, but… it feels odd."

"Close your eyes once more, and feel the Ki. See each other only through the energy that he has." Both boys again obeyed as the master removed his hands from both of them but kept them up in the air to feel the energy about the two boys.

"You two are very strong, but something is lacking." The master continued, "You have come far but something is missing, isn't focused." The master closed his eyes and monitored the two for another minute. He then moved towards Ken still with his eyes closed.

"Something is holding you back, I can feel it; something deep." The master stepped behind Ken.

"Focus Ken, feel Ryu's spirit."

"I do master, it is very strong. I can feel his gentle spirit, but his passionate strength and something else." The master reached out and touched Ken's back.

"Something is distracting you Ken, I can feel it… something deeper." The master moved his hand around Ken's side to his abdomen again, pressing his hand hard against him as he did.

"Something closer, something deeper in you." Almost intuited the master continued to move his hands, and Ken began to understand what he was saying.

"I hope to embrace it Master, so it may make me a stronger person." The master's hand continued to move, this time lower feeling Ken's spirit more and more. Finally it came to rest on the source of the disturbance, something a little lower than Ken's abdomen, on something the master expected to find.

"I understand." The master said as he continued to feel Ken, "The solid spirit you possess my pupil, I can see it is tied to Ryu." Again there was some strong yet gentle pressing of the masters hand, "I hope you can accept this, for accepting ones self is the only thing that allows us to adapt and embrace our true spirit."

"Open your eyes" he said as he removed his hand from Ken and then picked up his hat off the ground, "The storm is beautiful. I want you two to have a match with your new enlightenment. Feel yourselves through the match, feel each other, and when the match is over." He paused for a moment, "When it is over mediate with each other and then get a good night sleep." The two boys nodded, and the master tuned from them and wandered back into the temple.


	5. Chapter 5

Setting #5: A Bar

Timeline: Year 8 of Ken's Training – Summer

"What is this for?" Ryu said as he picked up the T-Shirt and shorts Ken had thrown to him. Ken smiled.

"The Master encouraged us to go out and challenge ourselves, and so I've decided to motivate you into doing that. Besides, a change in clothing might be good for you; I mean you have been wearing that uniform all your life."

"Well…" Ryu shrugged, "I've never had much of a reason to wear anything else. I mean, it's not like I go into town that often, usually only when the Master sends me to pick up supplies, and then I just walk like I am now."

"Oh come on man, I'd like to see you wear something normal for a change. Plus, this time I've got something in store for us. I've decided to put that credit card Dad gave me to use. We are going to have a night on the town!"

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Not just that, but we got to do some practice in actual fighting; none of this wimpy sparring crap. I mean some actual fighting!" Ken did a few jabs in the air to get the point across.

"Oh, and what did you have in mind? In a back water place like this, we don't get many traditional fighters." Ken smiled again.

"Tonight is Friday, and that means that the Rice Farmers in the town get paid; and I'm sure that the first thing they are going to do is head to the bar. All we got to do is go in there, and wait for a fight to break out, and bam, free practice!"

"But Ken, we are under aged."

"Never underestimate the power of money my friend. Besides, we aren't going to actually be drinking; you know how I feel about that stuff, just waiting for a fight."

"I don't know something about this feel kind of bad. I mean, what if we hurt somebody?" Ryu asked as he scratched his head with a nervous smile.

"Oh come on man, we won't hurt anybody. Mess them up a little, but nothing serious. Besides, ever since Master did that lesson with us last spring, I've been totally pumped to try to use some of this Ki stuff he was talking about. It's like I'm in tune with the world around me!"

"I don't know, I don't think I'm ready for a full on confrontation." Ryu stopped and thought about some of the strange impulses he had gotten during sparring matches before; like a couple years ago with him and Ken in the forest.

"Tell you what man, let's me sweeten the deal for you." Ken said as he rubbed his hands together. "Let's make this into a contest, the person who beats up the most drunk guys wins!"

"And what are the terms of losing this bet?" Ryu asked cautiously; Ken shrugged.

"How about, the loser has to do the others chores for a week" He smiled back at Ryu.

"Hmmm, just a week?" Ryu asked "How about two?" he smiled back. The two held out their arms and shook hands.

"It's agreed then, the person who beats up the most drunk guys tonight wins. Now let's get dressed." Ken said as he grabbed part of Ryu's upper uniform and pulled a little.

After getting dressed, the two were ready to go. Ken was wearing a red T-Shirt with an opened black vest over it, a pair of blue jeans, sneakers, and some fingerless gloves. Ryu was wearing a simpler outfit of blue denim shorts, sneakers, white T-Shirt, and his head band. When they got outside the temple, Ryu was surprised to see a motorcycle there waiting for them.

"Get on." Ken said as he took the driver seat.

"You didn't say anything about this!" Ryu protested.

"Oh come on, I know how to drive! Now get on and hold on tight, I drive fast!" Ryu gave in knowing that it would be next to impossible to change Ken's mind now, and Ryu was genuinely interested in seeing how he would do in an actual fight; and if he could resist those strange feelings he sometimes felt.

The ride to the bar was simple, but fast. Ryu was anything but accustomed to traveling like this, and so he held his arms tightly around Ken's abdomen making sure not to fall off. To add an extra thrill to the ride, Ken had not bothered to pick up helmets for them; something that worried Ryu even more. While Ryu was holding on hoping that the ride would come to an end soon, Ken was in complete ease and fully enjoying the rush of the drive. He would even sometime let go of the hand bars and hold out his arms to feel the wind against his whole chest; this of course got quite a reaction from Ryu the few times he did this.

Eventually Ryu's torture came to an end as they reached their location. The bar was a backwater tavern with the sound of hollering and hooting coming from inside. It seems that Ryu and Ken had shown up during some sort of televised sport event that the locals were enjoying.

"Okay Ryu, when we walk in just relax. These guys may be a bit rowdy, but they are just here for a good time. We don't need to start anything, just wait for them to start something and join in." Ryu nodded in approval of the plan, and the two then walked into the bar.

The inside was cramped and crowded; there were ten tables and a total of twelve stools at the bar, and almost all the seats were taken. At the bar itself had an open seat with a passed out man sitting next to it; his glass still half full. Ken and Ryu walked towards the bar, and got a few odd looks at them as they did. Despite Ken's choice of clothing for him and his friend, it seems that he overlooked a simple detail to their attire; their clothing was clean and that is rare on a Friday night after work. Still the two ignored the looks and stepped up to the bar. Ken took the open seat, and Ryu looked to Ken for help on what to do about the sleeping man. Ken shrugged, and then pocked the man; no response. Ken shrugged and pushed the man a little which caused him to slump off the stool onto the floor with a low but audible thud. This attracted the attention of some of the nearby people leading to a slightly awkward moment; however the home run struck on the big TV screen successfully drew the attention away from the two as the bar again erupted into cheers. Ryu stepped over the man slumped on the floor, and took his seat. After another moment, a man behind the counter approached the two of them.

"What can I get you?" The man asked looking the two over with a suspicious eye. Ken smiled and Ryu nervously watched the man.

"Just get me and my friend here whatever you think is good." Ken said as he placed a large bill on the table, easily worth more than two of the establishment's finest drinks. The man looked at it and then at the two.

"You two are a little young for what I think is good" the man said and then turned his attention to the bill, "and for something this big." The man said as he pointed to the bill. Ken smiled again.

"Well, I'm more mature than I look, and to prove it, you can keep the change." Ryu almost rolled his eyes as he said that realizing that often times ken was anything but mature. The man smiled as he picked up the bill.

"Very well sir, I'll get those right away for you and your friend." The man walked off, and Ryu and Ken turned around in their stool and watched the surroundings.

"So how long do you think this will take?" Ryu asked which was followed by another crescendo of hoots and hollers due to the game. Ken rested his elbows back on the counter of the bar.

"Relax, things probably won't pick up for a little. Besides these guys need to get a little more drunk, and with the way the game is going, I'm sure that will happen pretty soon." Ryu was actually a bit impressed with Ken's deductive reasoning in this case; obviously this was a side of Ken he didn't get to see very often. The man behind the counter came back with a bottle and some shot glasses; the label of the drink read "Proof 45".

"This stuff burns like hell, but it's the best we got." The man said has he slapped Ken on the back nearly knocking him off the stool. Ken caught himself and did a simple wave at the man as he walked away. Ryu looked at the bottle.

"You don't plan to drink any, do you?" Ryu asked.

"Maybe a little, I'm not stupid enough to get drunk or anything."

"Ever drink before?"

"Once, back when I was a kid and all. I was climbing around on a tree, and ended up breaking my arm in a fall." Ken shook his head as he remembered the situation, "I was stupid back then. Anyhow, my old man gave me a drink from his canister when he came to the scene after one of the gardeners got him. Said something about making the pain go away. That stuff burned too, but I think this stuff is stronger." Ken turned around, opened the bottle, and started to pour some in the shot glasses.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that stuff. I mean, I've just never really thought about drinking before." Ryu said as he watched the liquid in pour into the glass. "I guess I just never really had a reason to drink it before; and that there isn't any of this stuff at the temple."

"Hey, ease up Ryu." Ken said as he held out one of the glasses to Ryu while picking up his own. Ryu took it and the two smiled at each other.

"You are the only person I would want to share my first real drink with Ryu." Ken said as the two clicked the glasses together and then drank it. The liquid traveled down their throats and first felt cold and soothing, but then began to get warm as they could feel it travel down their chest into the stomach. The burning sensation of the drink only made the taste of it worst; though unknown to them there were far more foul tasting drinks out there. The two coughed and then looked each other in the eyes after setting down the glasses on the counter.

"That some stuff" Ryu managed to get out after a moment.

"Burns good, I like it." Ken said with a smile on his face. The moment was again interrupted by an onslaught of noise as the home local team succeeded at striking out the challengers. Apparently the closer to the end of the game, the more noise crowd makes.

Ken and Ryu both had another drink, and then Ken had a third after that. As the alcohol began to sink in; both of them eased up a little, and actually started joining into the cheering of the game also. Ryu in particular began to feel the changes most, a clam yet focused feeling; something would not expect to encounter from drinking. His thoughts though began to wander, away from the people around him, from the game, or even the bar; but soon Ryu found himself starring, focusing on some feeling in from within. This feeling he had felt before, it yearned in him, calling to him, pulling at him. That feeling started to control him, and so Ryu started to stare, lost in thought.

All the time in his thoughts, his eyes focused on Ken. When the team scored a point, Ken would jump up, and Ryu's eyes would follow his friend, ever focused on him. His muscular arms, his quick reflexes, his furious behavior… Ryu could see deeper, feel deeper in Ken, perhaps better than any other person. He could see Ken as he moved, the true Ken, all his movements, his muscles, his ki; everything. His mind wandered further while he was starring, and as Ryu took another drink, he thought again and again about Ken… about sparring. It was all he could think about, performing a jump kick and knocking Ken to the ground. Ken standing back up only for Ryu to grab him by his collar… by his chest, and throwing him back down. To see Ken writhe in pain and Ryu punched, kicked, and grabbed him. Ryu's eye focused more and more on Ken, without even realizing that he was now on his fifth drink.

Ken jumped up again, almost hugging the man next to him as the local team scored another point. The game was almost over, and the home team was going to win! Ken took another shot of the vile drink. Ryu kept focus, lost in his imagination of what could be, and slowly he licked his lips as he continued to imagine how with Ken trapped below him; he could reach out and grab him, twist, and making him scream. To use his Ki in a way to make Ken struggle, squirm to get free, but hopeless trapped in Ryu's grasp until Ryu allowed him to leave. So that Ryu's Domi…

There was a sudden punch in Ryu arm that knocked him out of his trance. Shocked Ryu almost jumped off of the stool, and then relaxed when he saw Ken looking at him. They both smiled.

"Ryu, did you feel that? Something odd…" Ryu looked down to the ground for a moment, realizing that for some reason or another, he felt a bit aroused, but then looked up to Ken and shook his head.

"I must have been day dreaming." He said as he scratched his head.

"Eh, it's gone now." Ken said as he reached out for the bottle again. The bottle was now half empty, but the two were enjoying themselves; more so than either of them expected to. Finally the game ended and the entire bar, including Ken erupted into joy.

A woman came in to the bar at that moment, a sweet pretty girl in her early twenties with the traditional long black Asian hair. Ken looked over to the new comer, and smiled a sly but devilish smile as he saw a man come over and greet her. Ken licked his thumb and brushed his bushy eyebrows, and then started walking towards the couple. Ryu saw where this was going, and didn't like it. But on the other hand, Ryu knew that this would probably start a fight, and that was the reason why they were here. Resting his elbows on the counter of the bar while sitting backwards; similar to how Ken was doing earlier that evening, he curiously watched Ken move up to the young girl.

"Well hello there beautiful, today is your lucky day." Ken said with a smile as he ignored the guy she was talking to. The girl looked up at Ken a little confused, but politely smiled.

"My team just won the game and I feel in a great mood. Care to celebrate with me?" Ken said as he smiled and looked her in the eye. The girl looked to man she was standing with, and then moved closer to Ken.

"Sure, what did you have in mind handsome?" She said as she stroked his chest. Ryu smiled as he watched this display, not so much because of what the girl was doing, but because he had seen Ken do this type of thing before, and sure enough it was working. The man who was there first, he was obviously furious by this, his hands were shaking and Ryu could see a large vein pulsing in the guys arm; and sign of high blood pressure.

Ryu closed his eyes for a moment, and sure enough, he could feel something; a feeling of uneasiness around him. Not from himself but from those around him. Something was building, and surely it was… He opened his eyes looking straight at Ken; surely it was related to Ken.

Ken ordered a drink for the young lady, and was daring enough to "test" the drink first for her to make sure it was alright. That was the breaking point for the man. While not overly muscular, the man was sturdy enough and his revealing tang-top showed a toned body. He walked up to Ken and tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Ken raised his hand, aware of was about to happen, but simply waved the man away. There was another tap on his shoulder and Ken smiled as he turned around, and then narrowly avoided a punch in the face. The fight had started.

A person laughed as the man who attacked Ken nearly feel over from the amount of force and rage in the blow. Then a man across the bar shouted out an insult, which lead to a small argument with the two people next to Ryu. The Bartender shouted out a warning to the people, but it went ignored just as it did every Friday. Bottles thrown, cigarettes dropped, punches thrown, and foul stream of profanity later, the entire bar was into a big fight. Ryu had jumped into the fray at this point and joined Ken's side while proceeded to punch, kick, and knock down men as they came after them. One after another, back to back, the two worked almost like dancing.

A man tried to punch Ryu, but he dodged, caught his wrist, and bent it behind his back while extending the muscles in his arm and lower back. Using that man as a shield against and oncoming kick, Ryu reached for another poor drunk who was foolish enough to reach out and grab Ryu's hair, and in return he received a blood nose and a bruised back as he was tossed to the ground like a rag.

Ken on the other hand had done a spinning kick knocking down three people who were nearby, but was then tacked by a man almost double his weight. Ken fell on his back but kicked the man off of him, over Ken's head, and through a table. He then kip upped, and delivered a spinning back fist to a guy who as approaching the poor girl with a sick look on his face. The man turned to Ken, but Ken grabbed him by his shoulders and kneed him in the solar plexus three times before letting the poor man fall back on the ground gasping for air.

Together Ryu and Ken cleaned out the bar, knocking out people as they did until those that didn't fee were left on the ground with a mild concussion. The bartender however was furious.

"You punks! You wrecked my bar!" He yelled as he came out from the back. Ken just shrugged and smiled.

"Sorry pops, I was just going to give this pretty girl a nice night out." He sad as he winked to the girl again; she blushed. "After all, ladies always come first in my book." He continued.

One of the men who had been knocked out started to stir. He stood up slowly, and pulled out a switch blade.

"Alright rich boy, let's see how you stand up in a real fight." He said as he flung out the blade and tossed it up into the air to catch it with his other hand. Ryu glared at the man and his use of a weapon, but before he could make a move Ken held up his hand to calm Ryu.

"You're not old enough to play with that toy boy. Why don't you leave before I break your leg." Ken made a couple jabs in the air to get his point across. His taunt had the opposite effect, and the man charged forward with the blade and swung it Ken trying to cut him across the face. Ken back away in time to avoid the blow, but his return punch was met with pain as the man reached up to block the blow and inadvertently cut along the lower part of Ken's arm. Blood stained the blade and flung in the air as the man did this, some getting on the floor, and some got on Ryu's white shirt who was standing close to Ken. Ken glared at the man as he didn't even acknowledge the wound.

Something was building inside of Ken, something that had started perhaps since they first arrived at the bar, or perhaps farther back. A burning sensation deep inside of him, deep in his chest; he could feel it. Ever since that night with their master in the rain, the start of the new training, Ken had been able to better focus this burning energy; this rage. He was able to control it, and with the Ki exercises, he proved to have a strong enough will to control it; but what happened next he wasn't expecting.

Ken looked at the man who waved the bloody knife in the air wanting more, and then Ken gave the man an almost sinister smile back.

"Up till now I've been playing, but now you've done something you really shouldn't have done." The man laughed at Ken's remake as he tossed the knife up in the air and caught it with his other hand.

"Shut your mouth you punk before I cut you a new smile!" The man yelled, and then lunged forward again. Ryu was about to move and intercept, but Ken held up his hand to stop it. The two nodded at each other, and then the knife came. With a vicious stab the knife sunk into fabric just as Ken moved to the left of the blow. The knife tore through Ken's vest along his side ruining it completely, but that was the least of the important things happening. Ken, unharmed by the attack, now had a perfect opening on the man's chest, and he took it. He squatted down very slightly and then brought his clenched fist up along the man's mid section in a furious upper-cut. Ken, perhaps unaware of just how much force he was exerting, physically lifted himself a few inches off the ground during the attack, sending Ken's fist up the man's chest and square into the jaw. At that vital moment, something happened.

Ken felt it; something in his body gave at that moment, something deep that he was holding back. A gout of fire erupted from his arm, and as it did both Ryu and Ken eyes widened as they immediately recognized the emanation of the flame being similar to the energy their master had shown them on that rainy night over a year ago. Ken had managed to manifest his Ki from his body, and in the form of fire no less. That very same fire ignited the man's alcohol stained clothing ablaze as he fell to the ground screaming.

Ken landed on the ground and Ryu rushed over and grabbed Ken's arm looking at it for burns, coloration, or anything. Ken gave him a bit of an odd look, and then wrapped his arm around Ryu's neck in a playful manner. Their friendly moment however was quickly interrupted as the girl who Ken was fighting for screamed. The man was still flailing on the ground and his burning clothing was igniting all the alcohol that had spilled on the floor through the bar fight. This wooden establishment wasn't going to last long with how much was located on the tables alone. Ken and Ryu immediately got to work.

Ken pointed to the door and yelled at the girl and Bartender to go; neither objected. Ryu reached down to the man who was on burning on the ground and ripped the flaming shirt of him which was met with an odd stared from the man and then he bolted for the door. Ryu and Ken then began to grab the people on the ground whom they had knocked out, and pull them to safety outside. In about five minutes time, they had succeeded in getting the people to safety.

The bartender watched the two do all this, and while he felt that the boys were at fault for the burning of the building; he knew that his insurance would cover it. He decided to not say anything since the boys were risking their lives to save those of the unconscious men in the bar; and so when the two mounted up on the motorcycle and left, he kept the truth of the situation a secret. Besides, nobody would believe him if he said a flaming uppercut caught the bar on fire anyways.


	6. Chapter 6

Extra Setting Setting 5.5: Discipline

Timeline: Year 8 of Ken's Training – Summer

The master thought about Ryu and Ken's actions of the previous night. They had gone into town intent on getting into a fight and then accidentally burnt down a tavern. Obviously these two didn't have as much discipline or humility as the master though, and that was something that was going to need to be fixed. After all, the techniques he was teaching them were more than just flashy attacks; they could… they would kill a person. The master drank from his cup of tea as he remembered his last pupil that he taught these techniques too, and then brought his thoughts back to Ryu and Ken. There was the other problem with these two…

The master signed as he thought about this more, why do these problems always come back to the same basic things? Ryu and Ken both show a lot of talent he thought to himself, both of them have been here for a considerable long time, and both since children. Though Ryu was here from an earlier age, both of them have lived and grown within the philosophy of the martial arts. They have also grown together, feeding off each other. Perhaps that is where things went astray before, for the obsessive tendencies of a man seeking perfection becomes more vulnerable to lure of the darkness. The master wasn't sure if either of them had that darkness inside of them, because typically it would manifest itself earlier than now; but both of them were approaching adulthood now. If anything, puberty tends to bring out those destructive urges more than anything else.

The master took another drink. He moved his thoughts along to Ken. Ever since the master discovered Ken's feelings during that raining night, he had been keeping an eye on him as well as Ryu. The two never showed it directly to each other, but the master could feel their Ki react to each other in different ways. The most interesting of which were in sparring matches, where the two could almost read each others moves. It was, in a word; supernatural.

The last thing the master wanted to do was repeat mistakes, and so if the two were the salvation or at least a preventative measure against the darkness, then that was acceptable even if the master found the situation a little… odd. In his old age and wisdom though, the master had learned to accept things as they are, and that dwelling on them wouldn't solve any problem. Adaptation to the situation is the key, and that is one of the most important principals he makes sure to teach his students.

As the master finished his tea, he decided to do it. Obviously the Ryu and Ken went down there for something; probably some real world experience with fighting. Their actions were reckless though and above all else, based on pride. It was time to kill two birds with one stone, and the master thought up a suitable punishment to accommodate this.

* * *

The next morning, one of the monks entered into the bathing chambers where Ryu and Ken were after their morning work out. The two were in the sauna relaxing and talking about the previous day's actions. The two, now with the alcohol out of their system, were surprised things gone as far as it did. Ryu in particular was worried about his actions when intoxicated, and decided not to drink again. While they continued to talk, the monk walked up to the door of the sauna and slowly opened so that he could avoid the onslaught of steam rushing out. Once it was clear, the monk greeted Ryu and Ken with a bow.

"The master wishes to see you in ten minutes in the training hall." The monk said humbly. Ken and Ryu nodded to the monk as he closed the door. The monk then reached over and picked up their folded up uniforms as he was instructed to do, and then headed to towards their chambers.

Ken and Ryu continued to relax for a few more minutes.

"Think he wants to talk to us about yesterday?" Ken asked Ryu.

"Probably." The two sighed and then looked each other over.

"You looked really good yesterday Ken, I mean in the fight and all. Like a real professional." Ken reached up and scratched his damp head.

"Thanks, you looked pretty good out there yourself." He said with a laugh, "Nothing like the scrawny boy I met when I first came here." Ryu laughed a little, and then jumped up off the bench.

"Master wants to see us, so we had better get there soon." He said as he opened the door and ducked into a shower stall. Ken was right behind him. After the two had washed the sweat off them and was drying themselves off, Ken reached for his uniform.

"Hey, where did it go?" Ken looked around furiously while tying the towel around his waist. Ryu noticed his was missing and did the same, and then when they couldn't find their uniforms, they looked each other in the eye and started to realize the level of the situation.

"Master is expecting us in a minute or two, we need to hurry Ryu!" Ken said as he bolted for the door. Ryu followed behind, but he had a bad feeling as they ran towards their room. On the way, they got a fair share of odd looks from the other monks; not so much because of how they were dressed, but because they were running. Afterall, in a monastery setting, it isn't too uncommon to see a person moving around in less than full uniform.

The two made it to their room and looked about for a replacement uniform. Nothing; all the drawers were empty. The two started to realize just what was happening, and remembered back when they were kids there was a monk who was forced to do a trial of humility by avoiding clothing.

"You don't think we are going to get…" Ken asked.

"That trial?" Ryu finished for him as the two looked to each other. The two continued to look at each other and slowly nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's not that bad I guess." Ken spoke up first.

"It will be if we don't get to the master right now!" Ryu pointed out followed by them both rushing towards the door. Three minutes later, they arrived at the training hall, still only wearing a towel around their waist. The master was sitting on his cushion in the middle of the training hall with some other monks around practicing. Ryu and Ken walked up to the master and bent down to a kneeling position before him.

"Sorry we are late master." The both said in unison as they bowed down. The master smiled seeing that the two realized what was happening. He held up his hand and the two stopped bowing and rose to a normal kneeling position. The master then held out his hand towards the two and closed his eyes; he could feel it. Some sort of awakening in Ken's body; but Ryu's too. Though he was aware the Ryu already had a grasp over his power, there was something odd about it in that it had yet to manifest itself. The master stood up and walked towards the two of them.

"You two boys have made much progress." He said as he approached Ryu first, "I can sense a power inside of you; a stronger focus of ki." The master walked right up to Ryu and gestured for him to stand; he did.

"Back stance." the master said swiftly, and Ryu jumped into the flexed position. The master walked around him inspecting his body while Ryu stayed as still as possible.

"Your figure is in good condition Ryu, and I can feel your fighting spirit." The master said, Ryu did not say anything; the correct response.

"Something is astray though Ryu, I can sense it." The master got close to Ryu's body and his arms.

"Something deeper, stronger within you." The master then moved his hands down Ryu's flexed arm to his chest, then down to his solar plexus.

"Here." The master said as he pressed on it, just below the rib cage. The master closed his eyes, and felt… perhaps saw Ryu's ki. He could see Ryu's body, the heat and energy from it in almost perfect clarity. He then, without warning, grabbed Ryu's arm and forced him to the ground in an arm-bar. Ryu knew better than to struggle, and allowed the master to force him down and pin him there; despite Ryu's less than modest appearance at the moment.

"Struggle Ryu, break free." The master commanded as he applied some pressure to the hold resulting in strenuous pain in Ryu's arm and lower back. Ryu struggled, pushed with his free arm to try to break the pin, and even kicked with his legs to get some sort of brace on the situation. It was hopeless… which was the point.

The master placed his free hand on Ryu's mid back as he struggled, still keeping his eyes closed and feeling Ryu's Ki. He could feel it… it building inside of him. That feeling… the feeling. It was as he feared, for now he understood Ryu's strength and yet his greatest weakness. The master had to be sure he was right about Ryu's feelings though. He applied more pressure to Ryu's arm, forcing Ryu's face to only see Ken in his visual range. He held him there as Ryu struggled, and then after a moment, when he was sure that Ryu was focusing on Ken, and then he felts for that strange ki feeling… the feeling; the strange spike of energy that only happened when Ryu and Ken were sparing or fighting together. He felt for it as the master slowly move his arm down Ryu's back towards his legs. Another moment past and he started to feel the reaction to Ken; the one he was looking for. It was time to confirm if this feeling was what the master thought.

The master reached his arms lower than Ryu's back, through the towel between the legs and then physically felt Ryu. It was as the master thought; Ryu was physically as well as spiritually responding to Ken. Ryu had stopped struggling; pulled his eyes as far to their corner as they could to see the master's face; and that gaze was met by the master. The master nodded, and for a moment they both understood each other; perhaps more clearly than they ever had before. The master nodded again and let go of Ryu, freeing him from the hold as Ryu jumped back to his kneeling position while securing his towel again.

"Just as I expected." The master said, now knowing Ryu's true feelings. The master turned his attention to Ken.

"Last night, a fire broke out in town." Both boys swallowed as their heard this; the cat was out of the bag. The master walked over to Ken.

"You have come a long way too Ken; and impressive presentation you had last night." The master then reached down around Ken's body from behind, and felt his way towards Ken's solar plexus.

"I can feel it." The master continued, "It has awakened. Deep, burning, fiery like is your spirit." Ken didn't react though he completely understood what the master was speaking of. The master then backed away.

"Show me what you did last night." The master ordered to Ken, and without hesitation, Ken jumped up from his kneeling position. Ken took on a back stance like Ryu had, and then closed his eyes and focused himself. The master nodded in approval as he could feel Ken's ki elevating. Ken then did an uppercut in the air; but there was no manifestation of energy. The master shook his head as he approached Ken.

"Just as I thought" the master said as he put his hand on Ken's shoulder. Then without warning the master kneed Ken in the gut making him gasp for air; but before he could draw in a deep breath the master grabbed Ken's face and smelled the exhaling air. The two looked each other in the eye for a moment and then he let Ken go as he slumped to the ground.

"You were drinking." The master said flatly, "That is what it happened." The master took his seat again and Ken pulled himself back to his kneeling position still winded from the blow.

"Where you drinking too Ryu?" The master asked at which point Ryu gave a silent nod. The master lowered his head at this and took a deep breath.

"Listen closely you two. In this world there are things, distractions that tend to

make one's outlook on life easier… perhaps less complicated. These are tricks though; they delude your mind and give you a distorted view of the world where things seem to be easier, only because they in part remove some of your inhibitions. Alcohol isn't the only thing that does this, in fact it cane be many things from religious beliefs, drugs, or even personal desires for power or affection. Because of these distractions, it sometimes makes the manifestation of ki easier. If you are going to walk this path… the path of our school, you cannot allow yourself to be distracted by these petty things. Your manifestations must be of your pure fighting spirit and nothing else." Everything was silent for a minute, and at this point most of the attentions of the other students were focused on the meeting. Some of them had even moved up and taken a kneeling position of their own to listen to the words of wisdom from their master.

"Ken, last night you displayed a great feat, something very few martial artists around the world are capable of doing, but you did so for all the wrong reasons. Your focused anger, as I've known all along, is the key to your power. It is the source of your ki, and as such it is why you create flame. Ryu's spirit on the other hand is calm and collective; only time will tell what it will manifest as. Either way, you have done at least made great progress towards your training… even if you did cheat to do it." The master looked hard at the two, and they simple met his gaze.

"I am sorry Master." They both said in unison.

"You two did a good deed last night, and for that I am proud. You two saved the lives of the drunks in that tavern down in the town without regard for your own safety. That act in itself shows that your hearts are both in the right place. The purpose of your actions however is different…" The master looked straight into the eyes of Ryu.

"Why did you go to the tavern last night?" The master asked plain and simple.

"We wanted to learn how to control ourselves better, to get a real world chance to use our training." Ryu answered as quickly as he could. The master's gaze turned to Ken.

"Why not just ask me to enter you into a tournament? Was there another reason for going?"

"We…" Ken hesitated, "I got Ryu to go with me on a bet. We didn't think anybody would be hurt in this master."

"I see." The master stroked his beard for a moment, "So it was pride after all. You two went down there to get into a fight with drunk people as a way of testing out your skills. You did so as a way of having an easy victory where you were sure you could win without risk of injury." Everything went quiet again, this time for longer than a minute.

"I've decided that you two need a lesson in humility." The master said bluntly after another moment. "Do you agree?"

The master was always rough like this, making it so that the student would have to admit to their own problems and accept a punishment before actually doing the event. Still the master was always fair and allowed the students to argue in their defense, but they always knew that if they argued and failed, they would end up with a harsher punishment, and so most just accept what was coming. Both Ryu and Ken in this case agreed with the master, and nodded in agreement.

"Very well." The master stroked his beard again, "Since you two take so much pride in your rank and prowess then for two weeks I am going to strip you of that very rank that has lead to this behavior. You will now be less than a white belt, and will have to do all the chores a white belt have to do as early as they do." They both nodded in understanding.

"Furthermore, because of your actions I have decided to also strip you of not only your rank, but your clothing for the duration of the punishment; until the sun sets in fourteen days. This is to show you that everyone else is better than you at times, even those drunks who you beat up, for at least they will have their modesty. For the next two weeks, neither of you is to wear an article of clothing save for when you are drying yourselves off."

The punishment was again met with a nod of understanding from the two students for as they feared back in their room, this might be the case.

"Stand now and begin your punishment." With that both Ryu and Ken stood up and removed the towels they had around their waist, fully exposing themselves to their master and their peers. Fortunately for them, the direness of the situation removed any arousal on their part, and so they both bowed to their master. With that their session was adjourned, and Ryu and Ken went about their chores.


	7. Chapter 7

Setting #6: Backyard

Timeline: Year 8 of Ken's Training – Summer

It had been a week since Ryu and Ken were given their punishment, and as awkward as the situation may be, the two had come to accept it just as the master had intended. After all, modesty is an arbitrary value in the first place, and as it is in a monastery the rules are already relaxed, especially between two friends. It is because of that relaxed relationship between Ryu and Ken, that despite their present restriction, they continued to spend most of their time together as well as training and doing chores. Sometimes there were odd looks or smirks of laughter from some of the other students; but Ryu and Ken just learned to live with it.

They had also learned to live with each other, and while they came to accept each other more and more in their present situation, they also learned to overlook any awkwardness that might arise. Such things as physical arousal from either of them, especially within matches they learned to ignore or accept as much as a cold breeze or irritated insect bite. Their focus has always been and always would be based on self enrichment through the martial arts.

One day during their punishment, Ryu had taken up a spot up in one of the tallest trees in the temple after doing his chores. He stared off into the sunset lost in thought about himself and the feelings he felt deep inside of himself. The building power he felt, it was somehow related to his feelings for… Ken? No… it was deeper he realized, Ken was but a means to channel that power, and he knew that each night when he awoke thinking about it; Ken had usually been nothing more than a victim of that building feeling. Often times he found himself thinking about trapping Ken in some terrible and painful way, and hurting him badly as Ken screamed or begged to be set free. Ryu shuttered as he thought about it, and grew disgusted with himself each time he did because it always to some level made him aroused. Luckily up in the tree, nobody would notice, and so now was the best time to think about that… especially since the Master might have figured something out a week prior.

In the backyard of the temple, Ryu's mind then started shifting to that of the training hall a week earlier. He remembered when his master had him held there, pinned and helpless as Ryu futilely struggled as he was commanded. Ryu had been looking at Ken, and even while trapped in the hold, his mind wandered towards that dark part of his mind, while he thought about Ken's revealed figure. It was then, while he was pinned and struggling, Ryu realized he was starting to get aroused, perhaps at Ken or his own dilemma… but it was then that the master moved in, almost as though he knew what Ryu was feeling. Ryu stopped for a moment and shuttered as the thought of how good his master was at reading others… perhaps he was somehow reading or feeling his Ki?

Ryu's thoughts returned to the moment of that encounter, as he was pinned there looking at Ken, he then felt his master's hand reach down his back and between his legs. Something about that feeling of helplessness made that darkness inside of him swell up, ever hungry for pleasure. It was when the master grabbed Ryu though, that he his dark feeling suddenly shrank; diminished as fear took control of Ryu's mind. It was at that moment that Ryu realized that not his secret was no longer his own, that when his master felt him aroused, that the master too would realized just what was happening with Ryu. The two shared a look for a moment, and in that single look Ryu could see… feel his master digging deep into Ryu's body; into his soul. The two shared a conscious thought of how Ryu felt, not just about his helpless position, but about Ken and everything.

Ryu shook his head again feeling the darkness arise in him, and as such he felt very aroused by the situation. He starred at the son as it was sinking into the horizon, and it managed to calm him and his heart rate down.

"Hey, Ryu!" Ken called from about twenty feet below on the ground. Ryu look down and saw Ken; the sun glistened off his sweaty body.

"Hey, what's up?" Ken repeated and waved to Ryu, "Something bothering you?" Ryu shook his head and smiled.

"Nah, just needed some time to figure a few things out." It wasn't a full lie. Ever since Ryu was a young teenager, he could feel the darkness swelling up… It was about time he started to figure out exactly what it was instead of ignoring it.

"Hey Ken," Ryu called down to him, "Why don't you come on up?" Ken gave a bit of an odd expression at the invitiation.

"I… don't really like climbing tress Ryu." Ken said somewhat timidly, which was odd because Ryu only ever saw Ken become timid when he was in trouble with the master.

"Oh come on, I'll help you up." Ryu said with a smile. Ryu braced the front of his feet on the trunk of the tree, and then lowered his body head first down the tree hanging out of it with his arms extended towards Ken.

"Come on, grab on." Ryu said, but Ken seemed a little hesitant as he looked up.

"Guess it is about time I got over this silly fear." Ken said as he jumped up and grabbed Ryu's hands. Ryu pulled Ken's arms up to the tree branch, and then Ken climbed up to the tree branch, inadvertently also climbing over Ryu's body. When they were both seated, neither of them mentioned the awkwardness of that situation, and stared into the sunset.

"I never thought you were afraid of heights." Ryu said starting a conversation.

"Nah, not heights; I like being up high. I just… have a bad memory of being on trees." Ken scratched his head as he tuned his attention towards Ryu and smiled. Ryu then remembered something Ken had said a little over a week ago at the bar.

"I was climbing around on a tree, and ended up breaking my arm in a fall." Ken had said back then.

"You broke your arm in a tree when you were a kid, right?" He asked, and Ken looked away and nodded.

"Yeah, it was stupid."

"Oh, what happened?" Ryu asked, but Ken kept looking off into the distant sunset.

"Well, I guess I could tell you. It is kind of stupid though." Ken scratched his head again. Ryu shifted his body to face Ken by shifting one of his legs over the tree branch and his back to the trunk.

"My folks, they have a pretty big place. I mean… like we are filthy rich and all. Anyhow, the mansion is three stories tall, and my room was up there. I was kind of a spoiled kid really."

"Yeah, I remember your attitude when you arrived here." Ryu said as he punched Ken in the arm; they both laughed.

"Anyhow, I spent a lot of time as a kid playing games and watching movies when I wasn't at school and all. I would always pretend I was characters in those and do dangerous stuff like they did." Ryu nodded.

"Well, one of my favorite things was the old Tarzan movies; I loved them."

"Tarzan?" Ryu questioned.

"Oh yeah, you probably never watched a TV show in your life." Ken laughed out loud, "Well Tarzan is this big naked guy who was raised by monkeys in the jungle."

"Naked guy?" Ryu asked again.

"Well, he wore a loin cloth. Guess that makes him better than us right now." Ken laughed again. "Well, he would always swing around on vines in from trees, and would always rescue ladies in distress. That was probably my favorite part of it now that I think of it. And whenever he would encounter something bad like a poacher, he would pound his chest to intimidate him!" Ken briefly mimicked the motion which brought a smile to Ryu's face.

"Well, I always idolized these characters when I was a kid, and would do things I thought was like them. Like one time I tried to make a rocket pack to fly with." He stopped for a moment, "That got a second degree burn on my back." He said as he pointed to part of his back to show Ryu.

"Well, after I had watched some Tarzan, I decided I wanted to swing into my bed room window from one of the trees in the back yard. Of course, not very many trees were that tall or as tall as this one here, but there was an oak tree that had been growing on the grounds since before my dad built the place a couple decades ago. The tree was right outside my window; it used to scare me during thunder storms." He laughed again.

"One day I climbed up that tree with one of my sheets I had made into a rope, and tied it to one of the highest branches there. I then attached a toy train to it to give it some weight, and tossed it into my room. I raced back down the tree as fast as I could."

"Where were your parents?" Ryu asked.

"Oh, Dad was always at meetings. He is really big into business and stuff, but that day he was at home in his office. Mom, well… She was probably in the garden or something; she is Japanese and insisted on taking care of her garden everyday."

"Your mother is Japanese?" Ryu asked a little surprised.

"Yeah, my dad was really into the Japanese culture, and so he married her. Its why he sent me over here to train and all. I guess he didn't want me to grow up like some dumb American. Guess I didn't get much of my mother's skin tone though; I'm about as white as they come." Ken laughed again, and actually seemed to relax a bit from his original stiff composure he had when he first climbed up.

"When I got back to my room, I took off my shirt getting into the Tarzan mood, and did the whole chest betting calling thing. I grabbed the sheet and climbed on top of my bed, and then ran forward and swung on the rope. Whoosh!" Ken made a whooshing motion with his hand arching upward to further illustrate the point to Ryu.

"Well, I wasn't expecting what happened next. I went flying out and the rope began to wrap around the trunk of the tree. I distinctly recall myself thinking that this never happened to Tarzan, and I kept moving forward going faster and faster. It was kind of like one of those polls with the ball attached at school." Ryu nodded like he knew what Ken was talking about, but had never actually seen one of those devices in his life time.

"I wrapped around the tree and eventually ended up hitting my head on a branch. When that happened I lost my grip and let go of the rope with my hands, but my pants leg got caught on the train I had tied to the bottom. There was some ripping on the pants, and I knew that it wasn't going to hold out for too long and I dangled there upside down." Ken paused for a moment and looked into the sunset, "It was kind of humiliating, because that is when one of the workers noticed what I was doing. She screamed and ran inside, and I knew she was going to get Dad." Ryu shook his head.

"Bet you were going to be in a lot of trouble over that. Did your Dad spank you?"

"Well, he would have except I got a lot worse than that from the situation." Ken turned his attention back to Ryu and continued.

"So there I was, hanging there by one leg. I knew I needed to get out of that situation, because if my Dad came I was going to be in big trouble. I started to shift my weight back and forth trying to get some momentum thinking that maybe I could catch one of the tree branches with my hands and climb down to safety. It would have worked too, except that when I was swinging my pant leg gave out form the train. I managed to grab part of the tree's trunk with my left arm while holding on to the train, then I did something stupid, well besides getting myself into the situation to begin with." Ken laughed again, and Ryu found himself honestly impressed at how much Ken was able to look back at himself without resentment for the situation.

"So, I decided that I could still get out of this, and I let go of the tree and started to climb up the rope. Then I found out why they don't make ropes out of sheets. The sheet was old and I guess kind of worn out, and so when I started to climb it, it tore clean in two. I ended up falling about thirty feet or so, and well… I busted my arm up pretty bad. Doctors said something about a compound fracture."

"Must have been terrible." Ryu said as he turned his attention back to the sunset.

"Yeah, when my Dad came out, he was furious and cussing. When he saw me he stopped and kneeled down by me after telling one of the workers to get help. I guess he had some training because he knew I wasn't too bad off. He pressed on my chest in a couple places and asked if it hurt, and if I could move my feet. He was happy when he saw me move my toes, even though I was bawling. That's when he gave me the drink; told me it would make the pain go away." Ken looked at the sunset.

"After that, I avoided climbing trees. I still loved being high up and stuff, but I learned something that day." Ryu laughed and slapped Ken across the back of the head.

"Guess something had to sink in eventually." He said with a laugh, and they both laughed. They both sat there for a little watching the sun sink into the horizon and the stars slowly started to show up in the night sky. Ryu repositioned himself sideways on the tree.

"I think I'm going to go for a night walk." Ryu said as he again braced his feet against the tree trunk and lowered his body head first. He hung there for a moment as Ken watched, and then let go of the brace and flipped backwards to land on his feet below.

"Come on Ken, you can do that!" Ryu shouted back up to Ken. He hesitated for a moment, and then moved closer to the tree trunk. Like Ryu, Ken braced his feet against the trunk and let his body hang down. With not quite as much grace as Ryu, he managed to fall down to the ground landing in front of Ryu.

"Ryu" Ken said as he stood up looking Ryu in the eye, "I'd trust you with my life, you know that right?" Ken said as he turned away and started to walk back towards the temple. Ryu, he didn't know how to respond.

"Ken!" Ryu yelled as he continued to walk away, "Despite what I thought of you when I first came here as a kid, you have become the best friend I could ever ask for." Ryu continued, "Whatever happens, remember that!"

Ryu's mind then returned back to his thoughts about his darkness as he walked towards the temple gates. As he walked he felt the wind kick up and blow against his body; it was going to be a cold night.


	8. Chapter 8

Setting #7: Small Cafe

Timeline: 4 Years after Ken's Training – Winter

Wednesday afternoon outside of a small café, a red porch calmly drove in to the parking space out front. Eliza had been coming to this café for some time now, and found its quiet atmosphere to be calm and relaxing; a bit of a change from her wild husband who refused to settle down. Still it was the fiery spirit of his that she fell in love with, ever since she watched him win the US Martial Arts Championship four years ago. Eliza got out of the car and made sure to lock up as always, and then casually walked to the door of the café carrying her booklet.

Entering the café, she was greeted by the server behind the counter.

"Hello there Mrs. Master, what would you like today?"

"Oh, just my usual." Eliza said calmly as she took her usual spot by the window with the stained glass chandelle. She looked out the window over at the store across the street, it had an open display of a wedding dress in it which always brought a smile to her face. She reached down and felt her lower abdomen which had recently started to expand… she could feel her child growing inside of her.

The waitress brought Eliza's drink to her and a Danish with it; one of Eliza's favorite treats. As she smelled the cappuccino she opened the journal she had brought with her. She had found it in Ken's belongings that morning and was originally she was going to leave it alone, but then she noticed a picture was sticking out of the journal. Closer inspection showed a picture of her husband and his best friend Ryu at about the age of 16 sitting on a porch together. Both were wearing only a towel around their waist as they seem to have either finished practice or finished in the sauna. Either way, she had always been curious about her husband and Ryu's close relationship.

In the time that she had known both of them, she always found herself questioning how deep their friendship went; just how close were they? She was more than certain that he husband was in no way a homosexual, almost every night when they were together showed her that. However if he were bi sexual she thought… that could explain the thrill he gets out of fighting. Her mind turned away from her husband and briefly recalled reading in a book about how the majority of wrestlers in professional wrestling were actually bi sexual or homosexual; and so she wondered if that could also be similar in martial arts.

She opened the journal and to her surprise, it was written in Japanese. She could read some due to some of the classes she had taken and could hold a conversation, but she was in no way fluent in the language. Luckily for her, the first few entries were written somewhat poorly, as though the person themselves was still in the process of learning the language. She quickly learned that the journal was written by Ken himself, with the first entry dating back almost 13 years; a little over a year after he started training in Japan. The entries were infrequent, sometimes with weeks or months in between them; and while the book was only about three fourth filled, it spanned across the entire ten years of training. The first entry wrote:

_I've decided to write a journal for Mom and Dad to read, and I guess for myself. In the last year without them, I've found myself lonely; and the master is hard on me. He always makes me do extra chores and says mean things to me. He says I'm lazy, or that I don't care to be there. He might be right, after all this was all Dad's idea! I want to go home, want to watch my shows and eat ice cream. I don't like getting hurt, only one person here is nice to me… Ryu._

Eliza sighed as she read it; already their friendship had started. Eliza thought back to the first time Ryu had visited from Japan. Ken had insisted Ryu come for his birthday and sent plane tickets and 1000 over for Ryu to use. When Ryu arrived, she found herself amazed at how friendly and open the two were. Within an hour of them arriving, they were ready to fight. She was shocked when Ken changed into his uniform inform of Ryu while she was present, and while she understood that they were both best friends, she found it odd that her boyfriend at the time would do a complete change of cloths in front of him like that. Since that day, she always wondered just what type of friendship they had.

Eliza read a few more entries, and smiled a little at how complaint filled the early ones were. The Ken she knew only complained about one thing; burnt food. Otherwise he would just adapt to the situation and overcome whatever was in his way. Then Eliza came across an interesting entry.

_I've been here for two years now, and never have I been able to beat Ryu in a fight. I try and try and try, but no matter what he pins me, or scores a point on me, or knocks the wind out of me. The other students laugh at me; tell me I shouldn't be here and that I don't belong. They call me an outsider, a foreign dog who has no right to learn martial arts, and yet I can usually beat them at fighting. The only one who treat me with respect are the Master, though he is still mean; and the one I cannot beat… Ryu._

She read it again and began to realize the life the Ken had had. She hadn't spent much time thinking about it before, but she was now starting to see that his ten years of training in Japan had replaced his childhood; and molded him into what he is today. Everything she loved, adored, and even hated in Ken was due to the direct influence of Ryu. Aside from explaining why she could never hold a relationship past four months with any other man besides Ken; it began to make sense to her that the unique and kind face of Ken that he showed her was because how he was brought up; because he wasn't trained to be macho, or never show his emotions; but to embrace his true feelings and strive for a better sense of self. She felt her belly again, and found her self grateful that her child was going to have a wonderful father.

Flipping though some more entries, she found one that showed a side of Ken she though he only showed to her.

_After three years, I've finally beat him! I rolled him on the ground sitting on his chest, and had his legs locked. I could see him twisting in pain, it was great! I had never been so happy in my life to see somebody tap out; but then Master yelled at me for doing something wrong. I guess I did something illegal in the match, and when I pinned him, I kneed him… down there. I didn't mean too… but I still won the match didn't I?_

_I didn't realize exactly what I had done until I was in the sauna with Ryu later, and Master never tells me what I did wrong. In the sauna Ryu was really quiet, more so than usual. I sat next to him and tried to shake his hand on the match, but he gave me such a mean look; it scared me. When I started to back away, he apologized but gasped for air. I asked if he was okay, but he didn't respond. Then I realized… he was crying. All those times he was there when the others were mean to me, and when I cried the first few weeks I got here, I had never once seen him cry._

_I approached him again and asked him what was wrong, but then I realized he was holding himself down there. I went silent as I realized what must have happened when I pinned him, and he watched me carefully as I reached over slowly and pulled open his towel. It was bruised and there was a little bit of blood, and Ryu looked at me with tears in his eyes. I did the only thing I could think of doing; I hugged him and said I was sorry. I'll never hit a person like that again._

Eliza had to stop reading, something about that entry hit something in her; a compassionate side of Ken she had only seen him give to her. She took a drink from her cappuccino and looked out a window for a moment. It was clear to her now that the two where close; as close as friends could get. Ken had been so happy when he won that match, and yet so sad when he realized that he really hurt Ryu.

She thought back to the last tournament. Ken was fighting against a big Sumo Wrestler from Japan, and he had Ken locked in some type of hug that might have broken his back. It was always hard for her to watch the matches because she hated seeing Ken be put in pain. Ken managed to break free from the grab though and knock out the Sumo Wrestler with… what did he call it… his Sho-ryu-ken. When he did though, he didn't seem to care what happened after the fight; but then again he never serious injured anyone.

The door to the café opened, and with it a cold breeze with it. The wind swept through the shop and flipped the journal a few pages. Eliza, a little annoyed by this, started to flip back, but stopped when she saw something interesting:

_He saved my life today… I don't understand why. We were down to the lake swimming. For a while now we had been doing a game of chicken, something that I did back at school back home. We both swam down to the bottom of the lake waiting for the other to go up first. We were both naked down there, which made it more fun I think. Eventually he gave in and started swimming up to the surface, but I was running low on breath. I didn't make it and passed out; but when I came to he was over me and I was on the beach. I threw up a little and my ribs hurt, but I never saw him smile like that before. On the way back to the temple, he told me what happened. _

_I don't understand… after I hurt him like that before a few months ago, he would still save me like this. I've been nothing but a pain in his side, and the other make fun of him for being nice to me. I wish I could be as strong as him…_

This journal was making Eliza feel uncomfortable; it was become more and more obvious to her that her husband and Ryu were more than just friends. Close friendships are one thing, but this was starting to go beyond that. Eliza began to wonder if their friendship had gone deeper than this… into sexual relations. Curious about this, she flipped ahead to when Ken would be a teenager.

_The Master knows how I feel, he must. Today we started some special training, in a thunder storm no less. He stripped me and Ryu of our shirts and made us practice in front of us. Everytime I see Ryu without his shirt, it makes me feel good; but the rain made it even better this time. I've noticed some other changes about Ryu and myself… like hair growing. It started with me a few months ago, but now it started in Ryu; I guess we are growing up. That night though, the master was watching us and said something about Ki. I never fully understood it, but he came over to me and wanted to feel mine. He grasped his big hands around my chest, and I could kind of feel what he was talking about. But then he said something about me being distracted, and then he reached down there. I was hard and he felt it, and I only get that way around Ryu. He must know, but I hope he doesn't tell the others… or Ryu._

Eliza stopped for a moment, and further questioned if she should be reading this. She took another drink from her rapidly cooling cup, and bite from her pastry while thinking about what she had just read. Ken had, or at least had implied in his journal, that he was getting erections from watching Ryu. That has to be a sign of something… But the fact remains that her and Ken have been active for over four years. The only conclusion she could draw was that he was bisexual; but if him and Ryu were that close… and as close as they were with that visit a few years ago… why did Ken leave and marry her? She read more:

_Ryu seems ignorant as ever, but I am sure he feels the same about me. I've started being a bit braver around him, to see how he reacts. I go into the sauna naked now, and make sure that when I am sitting there in front of him, to put my arms behind me so he gets a full view of my body. He tries to hide it, but I can tell he is blushing. During sparring, I went out of my way to brush up against him when I grabbed him and kicked him over my shoulder… he was hard like I thought he was. Maybe though I am missing something._

_Ryu has grown up here his whole life… well I think he has. Nobody ever talks about it, but he never has any family or visitors come for him… he is so lonely. When he can't sleep at night, I am the only person he feels comfortable enough to talk to, even lately when I lay around naked. I can't help but to wonder if I am the one who is different, because Ryu has been around this stuff all his life. The other monks, they are often half naked and even fully in the sauna at times. They are never hard, and so maybe it is because I am a… outside that I feel different. _

Eliza remembered reading some stuff about Japanese modesty in school. Males in general were more open with their bodies especially in situations of public bathing. This makes sense with what Ken wrote, and this would also make some sense of why Ryu never reacted to Ken when he was like this, even nude in front of him. That just means that the Japanese culture was good at hiding their feelings in awkward situations… or while Ken found a situation provocative, Ryu may not have recognized it due to a cultural difference between the two. She took another drink and continued.

_I've been getting a weird vibe from Ryu lately; I think it is his ki. Sometimes I fine him staring at me, though I pretend not to notice. I've never been able to test it, but I think he might be getting hard when he does it; like he is thinking about me or something. I can't really blame him or anything, I've done more than my share of pushing in the past; and every time he ignores or doesn't notice. I remember Dad used to say something about mom getting wild when she was drinking… maybe I should try to get Ryu to drink a little. I know we are both under aged, but what the hell. _

_I don't know how he feels though; I think he feels something for me, but he never shows it. In all the time we have seen each other naked, I've never seen him hard; but I've felt it from time to time when we are training. What if I am wrong and it isn't me that he likes, but fighting? I mean, I'm always pumped when I beat a person in a fight, but I don't get hard over it. I know I am a bit young to be thinking about this, but sometimes I wish our lives like this would go on and one forever. I don't know what I would do without Ryu… I would give my life for him._

At this point Eliza had her answer for sure, Ken was definitely interested in Ryu for more than just friends. Of course situation played a lot into it, for Ryu for ten years was the only one who gave Ken compassion or love; brotherly loved, but love all the same. Ken while growing up and reaching puberty must have mistaken that love to be more than just friends, and Ryu never recognized it because of his cultural upbringing. If that was the case though; why would Ryu get an erection during sparring? And why did Ken eventually leave? She knew she had to read further to find the answer.

_I didn't expect to get drunk myself; I just wanted to get him drinking to loosen up so I could see if he had feelings for me… real feelings. Instead I burnt down a bar! The Master is going to kill me when he finds out, and so might Dad when he finds out I charged over 500 on the emergency credit card he gave me! But still, I did get to see a unique side of Ryu, I got to see him in normal clothes. And on the motor cycle, every time he hugged me when I sped up it was great! Hopefully the Master doesn't find out about what happened today… otherwise we are going to be in big trouble._

Eliza made a mental note when she read this, those times Ken "accidentally" pressed the accelerator on the bike were not an accident at all; they were to get a trill out of her. She sighed and then noticed that there was another entry posted a little over a week later.

_Well, we are in trouble now. I guess it isn't that bad; but Master found out about the bar and we have a special punishment. We have both been forbidden from wearing clothing for two weeks, which isn't too bad. The double chores are kind of lame though. Still this means I can learn more about Ryu._

_Today just a few minutes ago, he called me up to a tree. He knows I hate trees because of that incident when I was a kid; but I went along with it because he seemed depressed… again. He had an odd way of getting me up in the tree; he hung is body down completely unconcerned about showing off his whole body to me. I guess that is normal, since we normally see each other naked at least twice a day to begin with; but I ended up having to crawl up his body to reach the high branch he was sitting on. It was just a little odd that he didn't seem to care at all that his thing was in my face, and I mean right in my face when I climbed up. He also didn't seem to think or care that mine was in his. _

_We talked up there about the tree thing that got me sent here; but for the first time I didn't resent the story. I'm actually happy it happened, because if I didn't do that stupid stunt, I would have never met Ryu. I wish I knew what was going through his head, but lately I've been getting a bad feeling about thing when he stares or day dreams. I had that same feeling when Master was giving us punishment…_

_He called us into the training hall, and there he did something odd. Back when we started the new training and Master touched me… I found it odd that he did so though it kind of made sense. This time around he touched Ryu like that; but not quite the same. He had Ryu pinned down and forced Ryu to struggle, and while he was doing this he reached between Ryu's legs and felt him… kind of like he did to me before. The whole school saw it I was sure; I felt bad for Ryu because that must have been humiliating. Then again going around naked for two weeks is pretty bad too._

By this point, Eliza had gone through about two thirds of the entries, and each one was getting longer and longer. Eliza didn't know what to think of Ryu, and apparently neither did Ken. But there was one more question Eliza wanted to find out before she put gave up her pursuit of what she was considering "forbidden knowledge". Eliza flipped to the last entry of the book.

_I can't believe what has happened, though I can feel it. That was one hell of a beating I took, who knew a master of our style could be so cruel. He fought like us… no he fought like Ryu; but more vicious. And I could feel it… the same feeling I sometimes feel from Ryu when he stares. Some sort of darkness swelling up inside of Ryu; could it be the same as this monster who killed our Master? Akuma… That is what he calls himself. _

_He… was going to kill me. Right their in front of Ryu to draw out whatever was building inside of him. He nearly did. And the way Akuma fought; it was filled with such malice, so rage. It was underhanded. He punched for the private vulnerable areas without regard for the safey of the move. This wasn't a match or a sparring fighting; he was out to kill and win by any means. It was scary; and after he took me down, I saw Ryu fight with him like that. Is this what Ryu has been fighting? Is this why he never responded to me all these years?_

_I think I realize now why I can't be with Ryu. I can't distract him from his training, to do so might make him like that monster. He needs his discipline, his focus to keep him on the pure track. Maybe this is why he was placed here at such an early age; because of the darkness in him. I don't know…_

_With the Master dead, I realize now that my training can never officially become complete. I've learned to manifest my Ki in a couple ways, though Ryu seems only adapt at manifesting it in the form of the "Hadoken". I wish I was conscious to see what happened with Ryu and Akuma; but I woke up a day later in the hospital; that was a week ago. Tomorrow I am leaving for America… for home. Who am I kidding, this temple is my home now; but with the Master gone and Ryu so focused… I have to move on._

_I think I am going to try to become the best martial artist in America; surely that will make Dad proud. Maybe someday, Ryu could open up to me… but until that day I will just have to move on with my life. This will probably be the last entry for this journal; thank you for listening._

That were no more words written after that entry, and Eliza closed the book. She understood now; perhaps more so than she ever expected to. When she met with Ken after that tournament, he chose to move on with his life. That is why he was so resistant for a year; why he kept putting off engagement or the wedding. It wasn't until that situation with that crime syndicate Shadow Law, that he was able to commit to her. What happened with them during that time? She sighed as she realized that was another mystery she may never be able to solve.

She felt a sudden throb from inside of her, and reached down to feel her belly again. The child kicked. Eliza closed the book putting the picture back inside where she found it; it was time to leave the past in the past, and look forward to the future.


	9. Chapter 9

Setting #8: In the Mountains

Timeline: Year 9 of Ken's Training – Summer

Ryu and Ken had begun what was to be their last extended training session away from the temple. Ken's training was going to be complete in about two months now, and this would be the last training session by themselves that they would have before Ken would return to America. They were up further into the mountains this time, at the site of the old monetary that had been in use before World War II. After the war when Japan was recovering, the monks moved closer to the town so they could help the town folk as well as provide some protection. It was around that time that the new temple was built about five miles away from the town while the old monastery however was about 25 miles away from the town. Since then, the complex has laid in ruins due to the lack of maintenance because of the monks' absence. It was for this very reason that Master decided that it would be a good outing spot for Ryu and Ken, so they could get a final look at the ancient home of their school.

The two had been at it quite a bit as well, both knowing that the end of their training was coming up, they both wanted to make sure they met their Master's expectations in full. Over the last year, they had both been able to project their Ki in weak manifestation; somewhat of a spectacular event to both of them. Their master had been teaching them how to do this ever since he had originally showed them this ability almost four years prior during the rain storm. He called it the "Hadoken" in the Japanese language, which Ken roughly translated as "hand wave motion". Similarly, the basic uppercut that Ken had done in the bar years prior had been advanced by both Ryu and Ken, and through their work they decided to name the attack the "Shoryuken" in the Japanese language, but again Ken's translation of the attack would be "Dragon Punch". In either case, Ken had decided to stick with the Japanese names of the attacks out of respect for both his years of training, and for his partner Ryu.

The ruins up in the mountains were still in decent shape, though some of the stone foundation and walls had crumbled or collapsed at points, and the entire place was overrun with vegetation. Ken had just gotten back from bathing in the close by stream when he came across Ryu hanging upside down from a tree doing his daily sit-up exercises. Ken looked up at Ryu's shirtless figure and stared for a moment, and then when Ryu took notice of Ken they both smiled to one another. Ryu jumped down landing on his feet.

"I still can't believe the Master was nice enough to give us a whole month off on our extended training." Ken exclaimed as Ryu wandered over to him.

"Well, I'm sure things will get more difficult when we run out of the supplies we brought with us. Hunting might be a little difficult since we don't have any weapons except that knife we brought with us."

"Relax, I'm sure we can set up some type of trap or go fishing." Both of them in their spare time liked to go fishing, but again they were at a loss because outside of a small amount of supplies such as a couple days food, they had not been allowed to bring any other supplies with them outside of a knife. In this situation, they were on their own for tools.

"Look at the view" Ken said as he looked to the valley below, "We can see the temple from here."

"That means the Master can see us from there." Ryu reminded him as he started to put on his uniform top.

"Sure, take all the fun out of it." Ken said with a sigh, "Guess we should get into our morning sparring match, right?" The two looked to each other, smiled, and then took up a back stance position.

"Ever get tired of all this training Ryu?"

"Never really thought about it much, but without the training and discipline, who knows what we would use these techniques for." Ken launched the first attack; a forward snap kick. Ryu blocked it, and they held there for a moment.

"One thing I never really understood Ryu, is that why teach people things like this if they are never meant for practical use?" Ryu counted the kick with a downward punch, connected directly with Ken's shoulder knock him away.

"For defense I guess, I mean we need to be ready for a fight right?" Ryu then did a sweep kick knocking Ken prone.

"Uugh, Defense?" Ken exclaimed and he held up his hands signaling to stop, "Come on, with things as calm as they are now, why would a normal person ever need to use or learn skills like these."

"There is always tournament use." Ryu spoke out after a moment.

"I think that there is something we don't know about with our style Ryu. These skills…" Ken clenched his fist and looked at them, "They are dangerous. I mean, we could kill a person with these skills."

"That is why we have discipline, so we don't do things like that." Ryu said as he looked down at his own hands, "Without the discipline… we might just become killing machines; taking what we want, when we want, and killing anybody who got in our way."

"But we aren't bullet proof Ryu, I mean even the Master couldn't just go about and take whatever he want; the police would stop him or something."

"I don't know Ken." Ryu said; let's try something. Ryu held out his arm to help Ken up. Ken accepted it and got up, curious to see what Ryu was doing.

"See those rocks over there." Ryu pointed to a bit of rubble from a collapse wall.

"Yeah, what about them?" Ken replied, watching Ryu undo his head band. Ryu took his head band and retied it around his head, but this time to cover his eyes thus acting as a blindfold.

"When I give the word, I want you to throw ten rocks at me… small ones though. Let's see how many I can dodge without looking." Ken scratched his head.

"Think you're that good huh?" Ken grabbed one of the rocks and tossed it up into the air before catching it. "Hope I don't hurt you too bad." He said with a smile.

Ryu took up a neutral stance and focused his mind. He took a deep breathe, taking in his surroundings through his other senses. He could hear the birds chirping in the trees, the running water from the stream not to far away, the rustling of leaves in the trees, and he could hear Ken. He could smell the air and everything else around him; but especially Ken despite him bathing not more than fifthteen minutes ago. It was more than that though; it was something deeper than just the base senses a person is born with… Ryu could almost feel Ken, perhaps in a way that could only be described as supernatural in nature. He took another deep breath.

"I'm ready Ken, try to hit me." Ken nodded, and decided to start small. He grabbed a rock about the size of his thumb, and chucked it toward Ryu. Ryu could hear the wind shift as Ken threw the stone, and could almost feel the rock coming at him. It was coming for his chest… he could anticipate the movement of it. Ryu tried to move slightly to the right; but the rock still hit him in his shoulder.

"Again, throw another." Ryu called, Ken blinked then smiled.

"It's your bruises pal." Ken grabbed a slightly bigger rock and chucked it hard. Again Ryu moved, this time to the left, and the rock grazed his back. After eight more throws, Ryu had successfully managed to dodge three of the rocks. Both of them were impressed that he was able to do that much.

"I'm still a novice" Ryu said rubbing his side, "but I think the Master could probably dodge a bullet if he had too. Another thing is that I have to focus still to get in the right mind set. Once we get far enough in our training, we will probably always be in that heightened sense of awareness."

"And we are going to get there in two months Ryu?"

"Probably not; martial arts is a life long commitment Ken." The two smiled again at each other. Their moment was interrupted though by a sudden shade provided by clouds. Ken looked to the sky.

"Looks like we are in for a storm tonight." Ken said; Ryu nodded in agreement.

"Let's get our match done with before the storm hits." Ryu suggested, and Ken nodded in agreement. They were both energetic about their match for of the things that they enjoyed most it was fighting with each other. The match was long and intense, quite possibly one of the longer matches that they ever had.

During the match, Ken kept an eye on Ryu; watch his every movement. It was obvious to him that Ryu was much more in sync with the world around him that he was, and watching Ryu's body move with the flow was almost unreal. As their fight progressed, they slowly moved closer and closer to the stair case near by; Ken being as offensive as ever.

"Come on Ryu." Ken said as he went for a sweep, but Ryu jumped over the sweep and countered with a punch to Ken's mid section. The blow nearly knocked the wind out of him, but Ryu knew it wasn't over yet. He followed up the punch by grabbing Ken by the collar ready to throw him. Ken however knew this was coming and instead grabbed Ryu by his left leg, locking him into a throw of his own. Ken shifted his weight and rolled onto his back carrying Ryu with him before eventually kicking him over his back. Ryu jumped up almost immediately after impact as did Ken.

Ken then moved in, a little shallow at first, for as he approached, Ryu gave out a weak jab to try to knock Ken away. Ken however moved slow enough with his advance the Ryu missed with the Jab, and left himself open; Ken took advantage. Ken did a fierce punch with his left arm connecting right with Ryu's Temple. Perhaps he was dizzy from the earlier throw, but the blow knocked Ryu back, stunned for a moment; then Ken noticed Ryu was at the edge of the stairs. His eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen, and he reached out to grab Ryu… too late.

Ryu fell backwards down the flight of stairs. The flight was long, easily twenty feet. Ryu clutched his arms to his chest as he rolled down the stairs; had it not been for his calm collected sense of self due to his martial arts training, the fall would have been serious. Ryu however reached the bottom of the stair case, a little bruised, but okay nonetheless.

As soon as Ken saw Ryu begin his tumble, he rushed over and jumped down large numbers of steps to get to him. He reached down and grabbed Ryu by the shoulders as he was pushing himself off the ground. There was a small amount of blood on the ground, and a little on the stairs from when Ryu plummeted down; Ryu was holding his right hand over his eye.

"Ryu! Are you okay?" Ken asked quickly. Ryu looked at his friend and smiled over his concern.

"I'm okay." He said still holding his hand there. Ken reached up, and moved Ryu's hand away so he could see the damage he caused. There was blood… but no serious damage; Ryu's eye had suffered no damage but the area above the eye brow was bleeding heavily… right where Ken had hit him. Ken gritted his teeth seeing this for he knew he was responsible, and then Ken noticed that Ryu's headband was missing. He turned and saw it lying off to the side of the path. He could have easily retrieved it, but instead because of the situation decided to do something different.

Ken reached behind his back and untied his hair band; the one he had worn for three years now. He brought it up to Ryu's face, and with both of his hand pulled it tight and firm like he had seen Ryu do several times when tying his own head band. Ken wrapped it around Ryu's forehead, making sure that it would cover the wound Ken had inflicted, and then tied it right around Ryu's head.

"There now, all better." Ken said as he finished securing the band. Ryu nodded to him wiping away some of the blood that was dripping down the side of his face. He stood up.

"Well then Ken, shall we finish?" The two smiled at each other and raced back up the stairs.

* * *

The storm had picked up in full force with the rain pounding on what remained of the collapsed wood roofs in the ruins. Ryu had decided to lie on the roof of one of the old building and feel the storm in full. Ken always found this particular behavior of Ryu's a bit odd, but never questioned it. Still with their training ending so soon, Ken found himself a bit torn on what to do about the present situation; after all Ken was going to leaving for America in the not too distant future.

Ken sat below by the fire, and thought about Ryu and himself. He couldn't get over some of the feelings he was having, something that somehow went beyond friendship. When they fought, he could feel Ryu on a deeper level than just physical contact, and he was sure Ryu could feel the same. In hindsight, Ken could find many situations that would show some sort of feelings in return towards him from Ryu. But where they really Ryu's feelings or Ken's yearning for Ryu to have feelings. Unknown to Ken, as Ryu lay up on the roof he was having similar thoughts.

The rain poured on Ryu's chest, for Ryu had decided to discard his uniform top to get a deeper, less protected feeling from the rain. The water rain over his body and washed away the dirt and grim from the earlier practice, along with any traces of blood on Ryu's face. He stared up at the sky, ignoring the occasional droplet of water that gently landed in his eyes. He was thinking about Ken.

Every time Ryu was with Ken, he felt so much more at piece, like some part of him was made whole, and yet he constantly fantasized about Ken, or rather not so much Ken but what he would do to Ken. Terrible and cruel things; things that Ryu thought for sure a normal person would never do… and yet whenever he had Ken pinned down, or when he was desperate to win, he thought about doing them. He thought about cheating to win, or to make Ken scream in pain. Ryu shook his head at the sadistic thoughts; was this really his true nature?

Ryu let his mind wander again to Ken, and he pictured Ken's body in his mind; bare and fully exposed. He thought about Ken when fighting, and pictured his body again; in the middle of the Shoryuken, or when he would stretch out his abdomen during a kip-up while getting up from the ground. He even thought about how when he would perform a throw on Ken, how his hands would grab Ken's chest. He began to think about how he could perhaps modify his throw, so that way he could grab slightly different… slight more private areas. Ryu opened his eyes suddenly.

"What am I thinking?" He said quietly to himself as he laid there. He held up his hands to look at them, "Is this truly the person I am?"

Ken popped his head up from the ladder, and made his way on top of the wooden roof to join Ryu.

"Aren't you afraid you will get sick or something from doing this all the time?" Ken asked playfully.

"You know me, I never get sick." Ryu responded, which was for the most part true. Being exposed to nature all the time and constantly making the body adapt to stress and fatigue had managed to drastically improve the immune system in both of them. Ken shrugged his shoulders and removed his uniform top like Ryu, and then took a spot next to Ryu. The two were silent for a few minutes as the rain dripped off their bodies and fully soaked them.

"Ryu, I'm not going to be around for too much longer."

"I know." There was another long moment of silence.

"There is something I've been meaning to tell you Ryu." Ryu closed his eyes at this statement, for in a way he dreaded this moment. He knew it would come someday, and as long as he had these thoughts… he knew that he could never commit, regardless of how he felt about Ken.

"Ken…" Ryu began, but trailed off, "There is a side of me that… I can't explain." Ken turned his head over to look at Ryu.

"Ryu, I think I understand. It doesn't change the way I feel though. For nearly ten years, you have been the best friend I could ever ask for. You were always there for me, always supportive, ever since we were kids." Ken reached his hand over and touched Ryu's bicep, and held his hand there for a moment. Ryu didn't react.

"I've felt like you were the only one who understood me besides the master. The only person I would be willing to let get close to me. Our two week punishment, the situation at the bar… I…" He reached his hand further, towards Ryu's mid chest, "I've never felt like this before."

Ryu closed his eyes and sighed, and then turned on his side facing Ken. If Ken truly felt this way, Ryu knew he couldn't hide himself from Ken any longer. Ryu reached his right hand over and placed it on Ken's chest.

"Ken, I understand how you feel." They looked at each other for a long moment as the rain continued beating down on their bodies. There was thunder in the background, and then Ryu continued.

"You have to know, that as much as you might feel this way for me, and as much as I might feel for you… I don't think I could be what you want." Ryu started moving his hand father down Ken's chest, down his abdomen to his uniform bottom.

"Ever since we were kids, I've thought about you Ken… thought deeply about you. I've watched grow, mature, and become a sensible and strong person." His hand continued further, under the cloth around Ken's waist and down to Ken's personal area. His hand grasped a hold of Ken, similar to how he had envisioned so many time over the years. Ken's eyes widened as this happened, and he began to feel that strange feeling he had felt so many times in the past… some sort of ki emendating now from Ryu.

"But Ken, as much as you or I might want this…" Ryu could feel Ken becoming physically aroused in Ryu's hand, "We are not the same. Your inner feelings, they make you stronger; allow you to become something more than your lessons and teachings. My inner self…" Ryu's hand became firm and slowly gripped around Ken. The two looked at each other for a long moment, sharing some type of empathic link; a level of understanding that went beyond words. Ryu's hand tightened, painfully so; but Ken only continued to look Ryu in the eye, feeling that feeling… that ki grow stronger.

"I'm not the same as you Ken." Then grip of his hand closed tighter as he moved closer, almost crawling over to Ken; Ken didn't know how to react.

"I can't control this… this feeling. I try and try, and all that happens is." Ryu crawled onto Ken still keeping his grip firm. Ken continued to star into Ryu's eyes.

"All that happens is I think… obsess about this and try to control it. I think it is too much for me, and as much as I might want otherwise." Ryu took his other hand and placed it on Ken's chest before tracing his fingers up to Ken's neck.

"I can't get past this, and I want to…" His second hand wrapped around Ken's neck and the grip tightened, "This is all I might be able to offer until I can control it. But I don't think I can…" Ken nodded, understanding; but this had gone too far. The Ki… it was overwhelming Ryu, and Ken could feel it. Never had he realized something this strong was inside of Ryu, and despite the pain he was presently feeling, he had to do something before Ryu fully embraced it.

"Ryu, this isn't you." There was another rumble of thunder in the distance followed by a bright flash.

"The Ryu I know isn't like this. He is gentle, kind, and full of self control. Whatever I am talking to; give him back." The words fell on deaf ears; something was different about Ryu now, his eyes hard and focused, and his grip continuing to grow stronger; perhaps impossibly so like their Master's on that raining night so long ago. Ken had to do something.

"Snap out of it Ryu!" Ken yelled. No reaction other than more intense pain, so much now that Ken could not ignore it as he winched from it. Ken grabbed a hold of Ryu shoulders and roll Ryu on to his back allowing for Ken to be mounted on Ryu's chest. The grip was still strong fro both of Ryu's hands.

"Ryu! You would never do this!" No response, but the stare for Ryu grew more intense. This was the first time Ken had ever seen Ryu like this… so focused, so tense. Ken had to do something, and he didn't want to break an oath he made long ago, but in this case there was little choice.

"I'm sorry Ryu…" Ken trailed off, and then suddenly with a great deal of force, he kneed Ryu between the legs. Ryu's eyes broke from their intense concentration; widening in pain… the grip loosened.

"Snap out of it!" Ken said holding his knee there. Ken could feel Ryu… and noticed that he was also aroused, "This isn't you!" Ryu's grip broke as his eyes returned to normal as the strange ki vanished. Ken rolled off of Ryu onto his back next to them, and both of them laid there breathing heavily. The rain continued to beat down on them.

"I'm sorry Ken." Ryu said after a moment. They were both silent; but now they both understood. Ken closed his eye as a tear trickled down the side of his face hidden by the rain.

"This can never be, can it?" Ken asked simply.

"Not until I can control that part of me." Ryu replied. There was another crash of thunder followed by a flash of light.

Perhaps it was the quiet moment, or that they were no longer focused on each other, but they both realized something odd about the light and thunder… it wasn't coming from the sky but the ground deeper in the valley. There was another flash, and then for the first time, they realized that the light wasn't white like they expected, but had a hue of purple in it. Both realizing this at the same time, they sat up and looked at each other in the face and then the source of the light… their home temple.

They both nodded to each other, realizing that something wasn't right. They both grabbed their uniform tops and put them on having both already adapted to the pain they had caused to each other. Without any further words, they took off towards their home.


	10. Chapter 10

Setting #9: Museum

Timeline: Year 9 of Ken's Training – Summer

Ryu and Ken arrived back at the temple a few hours later having traveled the entire distance on foot. The storm had picked up and the two were completely soaked as they arrived; but the driving factor that pushed them on towards their destination was an eerie ki that they both felt. They both recognized it, but never quite like this, and never from anything besides Ryu…

Looking about the temple, they were both astonished by the level of destruction that had taken place. One of the walls had partially collapsed, any windows made of glass instead of the usual paper were broken, scorch marks could be seen all over the ground, and the number of bodies that lay scattered about was disturbing. When they arrived, some of the monk's were moving about helping others while a number of others were not so fortunate. The two approached the first person they found that was conscious.

"What happened here?" Ken asked; Ryu seemed distracted.

"A man attacked" The young man, just a little older than Ken started, "He fought like us, but he was merciless, and could manifest his ki. He and the master fought in the training field. The master is there now." Ryu and Ken looked to each other and nodded; they needed to find their master.

They made their way through the temple, bodies were lying about and while both of them wanted to help, they knew that the person responsible for this might still be around. What concerned them more about this attack is that no standard weapons were used and that this person fought like them; these injuries were done with bare hands or some sort of energy. Something similar to… the Hadoken.

They made their way to the main training field. The rain continued to fall as they arrived and in the center they saw their Master lying on the ground surrounded by a small group of monks. The oldest monk of them temple was knelt over the Master holding his large hand. He looked up at Ryu and Ken and met their gaze, and Ryu and Ken knew their master was not long for this world. The old monk then gestured for them to come over as the other monks backed away allowing the two to come forward.

His large body laid there, his outfit torn all over similar to several of the other monk's, but with burn marks visible on his body. Upon closer inspection of his body, realized that he was in critical condition; it was amazing he was still alive. His eyes fluttered opened as the two reached him, and hand reached out and grabbed a hold of Ryu's uniform collar.

"Ryu… Ken…" He spoke in a very weak voice and gasped for air as he did. "He attacked, came for the forbidden… knowledge…" The master pulled Ryu close to his face; so close that Ryu could smell his breath as he spoke. "You must control yourself. Never… Never become like him…"

"Like who Master?" Ryu asked.

"A…kum…a…" The master lost his grip and slumped back to the ground as his eyes stared at Ryu and budged slight out of their sockets. Ryu looked at his master as the rain dripped down his face. He moved his hand up to his master face and shut his eyes one final time.

"Ryu…" Ken said as he watched the whole display. Ryu sat there for a moment, crouched over his master, and Ken could feel something again building inside of Ryu. That master, he was like a father to Ryu… and to Ken. Perhaps he was the closest thing to a father that Ryu ever had, and with that loss he could feel pain, sadness, and anger building in Ryu.

"Ryu, Ken…" The voice came from the old monk. He was very old, older than the master and had watched over Ryu and Ken ever since they were children. He was leaning on a walking stick, and his bamboo hat was damaged allow the rain to run down his face washing away some of the blood that covered it.

"Please, tell us what happened." Ken asked the old one, and there was again another long moment as the old man looked down to his now dead master.

"Goki… Akuma came here searching for the master. He was a student from long before you time, easily twenty years ago. He was obsessed, driven, and seduced by the power of the dark hado. He showed up a few hours ago shortly after sunset, and demanded to see the master. He attacked anybody who stood in his way; his level of mastery of the arts overwhelmed the students, and he openly manifested his Ki which was corrupted by the dark hado." Ryu and Ken looked at each other, and then Ryu looked at his own hands.

"The master met Akuma here. The storm grew violent as the Master began to embrace his ki, and the two fought. The fight lasted a while, and during that time Akuma kept demanding access to his final technique. The master refused and finally fell at the hands of Akuma. After that he tore about the temple and eventually found the scroll that had the forbidden knowledge on it. Before he left, he called out so anybody could hear, 'I'll be waiting at the cave three miles from here north. If any of you want to avenge your pitiful master, then meet me there at dawn." Dawn was in about six hours, and it was likely that Akuma was three hours ahead of them.

* * *

For the next hour, Ken and Ryu helped carry the wounded monks to a safe and dry place. Many of them were suffering from broken bones and severe internal bleeding. About one forth of the monks had died and among them was their master. Once Ryu and Ken managed to get them into the central part of the temple for medical treatment, the old monk who was in better shape than most of the other monks, spoke to them once more.

"I have something to show you two, the Master was going to show you after your training, but you need to know it now." The monk didn't wait for a response, but merely gestured to them to follow and began to walk away. Ryu and Ken, who had been mostly silent for some time now, looked at each other, and then followed.

The old monk took them to their Master's chambers, and to Ryu's and Ken's surprise, the place was torn apart and hidden beneath the bed was a open door that opened up into a staircase going down. The old monk lit a torch and the three of them descended below. The walls were covered with murals and paintings, all of martial artist with dates going back as far as 1400 C.E. This place was almost like a museum; a recoding of the past of their school and style. The names were written all in Kanji, some of which were outdated and no longer used in the common day, and so Ken had a harder time reading the names.

"As you two know, each person is different and their ki reflects their inner personality. Our style pulls out that inner self as all Martial Arts do, and builds us up to our full potential. While the beginning steps are the same, as each one moves past their basic training they advance in their own unique way." He pointed to the first image on the walls, "The first to master our style could make his hands move so fast, he could create blades of wind powerful enough to rip his opponents apart." He pointed to another, "This one was able to manifest the cold pain he felt from his slain family, and by channeling that bitterness, and so he could manifest cold in the air freezing the moisture in it." He continued walking. "There are many more, but each of these are the men who have mastered out fighting style." The old monk said plainly, "And with each of them came a terrible price for that power. Consumed with a life of fighting, they lived only to kill constantly searching for the next worthy opponent."

"Our fighting style was originally used for killing, and tournament in the old days were lethal. The power of our style along with many other schools was feared by those far and wide, and so even the governments left the schools alone and sent their samurai to us for training. But we are not alone." The old man stared hard, his gaze meeting Ryu and Ken's, "There are others all over the world who have made this type of progress. The Chinese, Koreans, Indians, they too have their own school where their students have learned to harness their ki in just as powerful ways. As you advance yourself, you must be aware that there are those out there who would seek to fight you also; consumed by the obsession of fighting for a challenge… men like Akuma." The old man continued walking, and the three passed by many more murals.

"You must also be aware, must know that there are others who would want to use you for their own means. You must never submit to them and stay pure to your training."

Ryu and Ken continued to look at the images as they past them. Some of the people in the pictures looked completely normal, some had a spirit animal over them, and others looked different… perhaps even monstrous.

"The man who came here tonight, he was like these men; completely driven for power. The master saw this in his training, and when Akuma was about your age, the master expelled him from the temple. Akuma had not been heard from since, until tonight." The old man reached the end of the passage, and sitting there was an open wooden chest with a few scrolls scattered about.

"Each person must develop their own skills and find their own path through the martial arts, and since I saw Akuma last, he too has done this. But tonight he came here looking for the final piece of his style, for each of these scrolls contains a forbidden technique developed by one of the ancient masters." The old monk looked through the scrolls while Ryu and Ken took in the scene.

As they looked one of the murals caught Ryu's eye, something that almost called to him. The image was of a man, his bare back showed a glowing symbol… a glowing kanji that Ryu knew as "Ten" which translates to Heven. A dark aura surrounded the individual, and the eyes of the person were red with a broken bloody body at his feet. Ryu starred at the broken face, and even with the simplistic art style of the ancient mural, it captured a look on terror and pain… one Ryu recognized all to well, for each time he fantasized about Ken and letting himself go, he could see that look on Ken's face. The old man and Ken joined Ryu by the mural.

"This is the scroll he took, the one for the skill known as the Shun Goku Satsu." The old man said, and Ryu and Ken looked at each other.

"Shun Goku Satsu…" Ryu repeated. Ken thought about the words, and quickly realized that the name of that attack would roughly translate as "Instant Hell Murder". The old man continued.

"The Shun Goku Satsu is a terrible and powerful technique that uses the Dark Hado. It turns the sins of the victim on the user, and in turn makes them pain in an instant for all the miss deeds they have performed in life. It is believed that this attack utilizes a person Karma and that if it was used against a pure person, would have no affect. That has never been proven though." There was silence in the room for a long minute.

"The master wanted you two to see this room, for he said now was the time for you two to branch off into your own individual and distinct style. You may follow one of these masters recorded in this room, or you may even develop your own style. That is for you to decide."

"What is the dark hado?" Ryu finally asked as he looked over to Ken. Ken nodded in understanding.

"The dark hado is the obsession and darkness in ones heart. The desire to be cruel and absolute, and to destroy anything in your path. It often appears shortly after puberty in a child and is usually mixed with the desire for physical dominance over others. A person who embraces the dark hado gives themselves over to their animal instincts and becomes a self centered creature only caring about its self. This is what Akuma has become, a man who is searching for his hearts desire… a worthy opponent."

Ryu took a deep breath.

"He killed the master; I have to go after him."

"No," The old man objected, "You are still just a novice, compared to him you are but an insect. He is a master of the style and has embraced the dark hado. He would torture you and use you to learn the Shun Goku Satsu."

"I can't let him get away with this, the master was the closest thing to a father I have ever had." Ryu replied.

"I see." The old man replied, "Then you must also follow your heart."

"I'm going to." Ken announced, and both the old monk and Ryu looked at him.

"Like Ryu said, he killed our master; and I could never let Ryu go by himself." Ken put his arm on Ryu's shoulder. The two looked each other in the eye.

"I'll never abandon you." Ken said, and Ryu nodded. With out any further words, the two turned and walked back down the corridor. The old monk looked on as they left, and hoped all would work out for the best.


	11. Chapter 11

Setting 9.5 Extension  
Timeline: Year 9 of Ken's Training – Summer

The rain continued to pour; it was obvious that it was not coming to and end any time soon. Despite the cold miserable weather, Ryu and Ken continued to walk towards their destination. Dawn was in a couple hours, and both of them were feeling the fatigue of having no sleep and little to eat. Despite the uncomforting feeling of even as their soaked uniforms clinging to their damp bodies, neither complained for they knew this might be the only time that they would be able to avenge their master's death.

They talked little, only to confirm they were going to the right way with each other, though even that was not needed. They could both feel Akuma… the presence of his evil Ki, the dark hado. It was like a trail they easily could follow, like a brightly colored insect full of deadly poison, so poisonous all other creatures knew to instinctively avoid it. These two were different, for each of them wanted to find Akuma for the same yet different reasons. While they both wanted to avenge their master, Ryu wanted to know more about the dark hado, and see what he might become if he failed to control it. Ken on the other hand in addition to revenge, wanted to make sure Ryu was okay, and did not become like this monster. They both walked thinking about this, and before they knew it, they had reached the cave.

"Ryu…" Ken said aloud as they looked into the deep cave. They could see warm light from deep within perhaps from a fire. Ken turned towards Ryu and they both looked each other over.

"Whatever happens down there Ryu, I want you to know." Ken reached out, and for the first time since they were kids, Ken hugged Ryu, "Whatever happens, I'll be there for you." Ryu, a little surprised by Ken's actions, did the only thing he could think of. He reached his arms up and hugged him back.

"Let's deal with this." Ryu said as they broke off their embrace. Ken nodded in agreement and they proceeded into the cave.

The cave was humid and warm unlike the cold rain outside. A small amount of rain and formed a large puddle on the ground and flowed downward into the cave like a small river. Moving down deeper they could both smell burning wax, and see the occasional flickering of light. The tunnel twisted and as the two rounded the corner, they finally laid eyes on the man they were searching for… Akuma.

His dark tan skin spoke of a heritage not quite Japanese but definitely Asian in nature. His hair was red and fixed upward into a spikes, bound upward by some adhesive substance or what both Ryu and Ken feared… by the pure energy of his ki. His dark uniform was like theirs but black from years of training, similar to how a black belt which would start white and eventually becomes black because of the shear amount of effort, sweat, and blood a martial artist invest into their training. His bare arms and feet showed no signs of marking, and around his neck was a necklace of large beads, each about as big as a fist. The room was littered with candles, each lit and glowing with intensity. The most noticeable feature of this man… this creature was his pure size.

Akuma sat in the middle in a trance, his eyes closed locked in mediation. Ryu and Ken could feel the dark hado; could feel it emanated from Akuma like the sent of a rotting corpse. The ki was pulsing, rising and dropping like a heart beat, and each time it did the candles flickered. Akuma's eyes opened revealing a red lining to his eyes surrounding his black pupils.

"One who enters here comes here with all their skills at the ready." Akuma spoke, his words deep, clear, and solid. "To enter here without is a death wish, do you accept?"

"Akuma…" Ryu spoke as he looked at this man, a master of his style. "Why did you kill our master? Why have you done all this? For what purpose do you… do we fight?"

Akuma stood up from his sitting position allow Ryu and Ken to observe for the first time to extent of his massive body. Akuma was perhaps unnaturally large, permeated with a dark energy more potent than any steroid.

"That man was a weakling; one who feared the power I had. Even in death he denied me my right to the final technique, and since then I have learned all there is to know about my art. I fight… I fight to find a person capable of killing me. One who is worthy of the fight; worthy of a death at my hands." Akuma looked down at his hands as he said the last part of the phrase, and then turned his attention toward Ryu and Ken, "Do you two think you are worthy to die?"

The candles flickered again as he said this, and Ryu and Ken could both feel the energy in Akuma building. Ken noticed something else though, he noticed and could fully confirm at this point that Akuma… that his ki was what he felt many time inside of Ryu over all these years. The incident at the bar, the few times during sparring matches, and even the rooftop at the ruins earlier that night; it was all the same.

"You fight only to fight, only to kill." Ken said aloud, "Then your life has no meaning! It is pointless to continue so why continuing fighting?" Akuma let out a deep growl that was perhaps meant to be more of a laugh. It echoed down the corridor of the cave and each of the candles again shuttered.

"Foolish child, you do not understand the meaning of all this. Life is nothing more than an extension of our power, of your inner will. It is small and fragile, yet full of energy like a candle." Akuma then struck out one of his arms with a palm strike to the air. A group of candles at least fifteen feet away from him fluttered with the sudden shift of air current, "Each one of them exist independent of the other, and yet when a single one grows strong it is the right of that one to survive while the others perish." Akuma did another strike in the air, and in the same group of candles all but one was extinguished. "What I do is only the natural order. I live while others die, and to grow stronger I seek those who are capable for killing me." There was silence again.

"You monster!" Ken said with perhaps the most anger and resentment he had ever mustered, "No wonder the master kicked you from the school! You are deluded into thinking that the only meaning in life is to kill others." There was a sudden pulse from Akuma and all the candles flickered darkening the cave for just a moment. In that instant Akuma was gone; vanished into the darkness. Ryu and Ken's eyes widened as they saw this, and then Ken felt a large hand reach out and grab him by the chest, pulling him off the ground by his uniform.

Akuma, who had somehow moved behind them, pulled Ken from the ground and up to his face. His massive frame was now more obvious to the two as Ken's chest was only a little larger than Akuma's head.

"You call yourself a martial artist?" Akuma spoke. Ken was so close to Akuma's face that he could feel the currents of air exhale from Akuma's body; smell Akuma's putrid breath. "Our style was founded on the art of killing; to prove our dominance over others in the field of battle by breaking our opponent with our bare hands. Did that old fool teach you nothing of the art you study?"

Ken struggled to get free, but Ryu just looked up at Akuma. Ryu was ready, and while he saw Ken trying to get free, he didn't act, but instead waited and was ready to act if Ken needed help.

"Out style of killing was so potent, so powerful that other countries refused to trade with us. They Feared us, coward in our presence, even out own country. Samurai all the way from Kiyoto came to our school to learn out very skills to murder innocent Korean and Chinese, and you say our ultimate fate is not for killing?! You are a fool!" Despite Ken's position, he glared Akuma in the eyes fully understanding, perhaps reluctantly so, what Akuma was saying.

"I understand." Ryu said, "For one such as you, there is no need for words. You fight only to fight, only to conquer your foe knowing that one day you too will be defeated."

Akuma then let out another growl, and then threw Ken to the floor with a single gesture making a loud ripping sound as Ken landed. The force of the throw… it had damaged Ken's soaked uniform. Akuma stepped up to Ryu and looked down at him; his massive body towering over Ryu's figure.

"You are different than the others." The two stared at each other, similar to how a man in the mountains might stare at a wild cat; both knowing what the other could do. Ken stood up this time ready for action.

"I can feel it in you." Akuma said, "But you have not embraced it."

"I am not like you." Ryu replied, and again Akuma growled.

"You are a fool." Akuma then reached down to grab Ryu, but Ryu was ready. Ryu did a fierce jab into Akuma's mid section. The blow landed solid, and Ryu could feel his fist sink into Akuma's flesh; but Akuma did not react to the blow and simple grabbed Ryu also by his uniform top.

"I will make you embrace it; I will make you worth of me."

Again Ryu punched, and then a kick as he was pulled up off the ground. Ken realizing that talking was over, and then jumped onto Akuma's back. Ryu continued to struggle, but as Akuma lifted Ryu into the air over head with a single arm, Akuma delivered a blow of his own to Ryu. An uppercut, starting low at Ryu's left leg, and raking upward across his chest. The blow was massive; knocking the wind out of Ryu, and the air current from the hit ripped open Ryu's uniform top causing him to spin in the air as he fell to the ground. Akuma's mastery over the style was amazing, even Ryu who was on the receiving end of the attack, had never felt or seen such manipulation of air currents through the use of ki; the bases of their style.

Meanwhile Ken lifted his body up still clinging to Akuma's shoulders with his hand and then brought the full force of his leg into the back of Akuma's legs. Akuma's legs gave a little, and Ken was surprised because that would have been more than enough to knock a normal person off their feet. Ken realizing that he needed more force then pulled his weight down taking advantage as much as possible Akuma being off center, and then kicked Akuma over him as Ken landed on his back. The massive body went flying through the air but then in mid air Akuma recovered, flipped, and landed on his feet. Keen looked over his shoulder on his back in amazement to see somebody recover like that.

Ryu was holding his chest, winded by the attack, but stared at the display. Ken jumped up ready for more. There was another flicker from the candles and Akuma was again gone. Ken remembered what happened last time did a spinning kick behind him; a kick that was blocked by a massive arm. Akuma's other arm then quickly reached up and wrapped around Ken's exposed thigh, and Ken was off balance because of the sudden shift in weight. Ken's eye widened as he realized his legs were wide opened, and so then he reached out with his arm to try to grab ahold of Akuma. Akuma then kneed Ken in his exposed private area as Ken's arms made contact with the beads around Akuma's neck. Pain raced up through Ken's body as Akuma's other hand wrapped around Ken's neck.

There was a sudden blue light from behind Akuma, and a blast of blue energy connected with Akuma's back as Ryu called out "Hadoken". Ryu was standing there, both arms extended and yet connected at the wrist. The blast of energy shoved Akuma forward a couple inches as the energy pierced Akuma's uniform on the back leaving a small burn mark. Akuma shifted around and turned to face Ryu while still holding Ken.

"You can manifest your ki, and yet you have not embraced the dark hado? Interesting…"

Ken struggled still feeling the pain, but his anger was building.

"So… Can I!" Ken yelled as he brought up his fist across Akuma's chest in an upward motion. Fire erupted from Ken and the blames caused Akuma to release Ken as the fist connected with Akuma's jaw. Ken collapsed to the floor still holding himself from the low blow.

Akuma rubbed his jaw, "You two must be the top students." He said with another low growl. Ryu let loose another blast of energy, but this time before the blast connected there was another flicker of light in the cave and Akuma was gone. Ryu could feel him… feel his evil Ki, but not fast enough. There was a sudden blast of purple energy from behind Ryu, throwing him forward and on to the floor. The purple energy scorching at Ryu and he felt it pierce his uniform and into his back; remove more of what little protection Ryu had. Ryu looked back and saw Akuma in the same pose Ryu was in, and then Ryu realized that he had manifest his Ki just like Ryu did; but the power of the dark hado was different. It penetrated the flesh of the person, permeated the flesh with dark energy like some type of horrid disease one could not defend against.

Ken jumped at Akuma with a spinning kick in the air. Akuma was ready. He again grabbed Ken by his leg and swung him around into some candles which immediately flickered out. Had it not been for the uniform being so damp by all the rain, it surely would have caught on fire.

"Ken!" Ryu yelled as he saw his friend get slammed into the wall. There was a crunching sound… a sound that all three of them had come to know as the sound of breaking bone.

"You fool, all who come here come with their skills at the ready." Akuma said as he reached down and grabbed Ken by the neck. Ken held his leg feeling that the bone had broke, but there were more important things to worry about now. Akuma reached up and pulled off Ken's uniform top exposing his body all while holding him in the air.

"Let's see what you are made of little boy." Akuma said as he then punch Ken in the stomach. Ken gasped as the air rushed out of his lungs, and then before he could act there was another punch, this time lower… "Children such as you should know better to challenge those who are stronger than them." Akuma said as he again punched Ken.

"Put him down!" Ryu yelled as he rushed forward and did a Shoryuken. The blow again racked across Akuma's chest, and this time he reacted with a grunt of pain.

"This boy" Akuma began, "I understand now." Akuma punched Ken with his free hand, driving his fist into Ken solar plexus making him gasp yet again for air in a single painful cry.

"Stop it!" Ryu said as he jumped at Akuma and performed the "Tatsumaki Senpu Kyaku" or "Whirlwind Kick" as it would translate into English. Ryu spun in the air using his extended leg to manipulate the air current with his ki similar to a helicopter. The blows of the kicks connected with Akuma's back as he stood there holding up Ken's exposed body.

"You care for this boy." Akuma said as he threw Ken down to the ground and delivered a downward kick to the middle of Ken's back. There was another crunching sound as Ken screamed out in pain.

"Ryu…" Ken said one last time as he lapsed into unconsciousness.

"Ryu…" Akuma repeated as he looked at the boy standing in front of him, "There is no room for feelings like this in your training; you can only become stronger by living only for yourself." Ryu starred at Akuma seeing Ken's broke, exposed, and bleeding body.

"You could never understand friendship Akuma. You live only to kill, but I live for more." Ryu again let loose another Hadoken but Akuma just side stepped out of the way as the blast his some candles behind him.

"This boy is holding you back. Embrace the feeling you feel… that I can feel in you." Akuma was right, the dark ki was building inside of Ryu, and he could feel it. Akum placed his foot firmly on Ken's lower back and grabbed a hold of Ken's long blonde hair. He pulled it by the scalp and arched Ken's body upward stretching out his chest as he arched Ken's back to its limit.

"This boy is weak. He is distracted by his emotions and unworthy of the fight; living only to devote himself to others." Ryu looked at Ken's arched body and began to have his familiar thoughts about Ken; dark thoughts he had only fantasized about before. He shook his head.

"I'll never be like you Akuma!" Ryu rushed forward, but Akuma simply knocked him away with a palm blow to Ryu's face.

"I will break this boy to find the real you Ryu." He pulled harder, and there was some cracking of bone. Akuma turned his head to Ryu and glared with his red eyes, "Show me your true power."

Ryu could feel the evil Ki growing in Akuma. He then realized what Akuma was leading up to… he was going to finish off Ken… Kill Ken with the Shun Goku Satsu.

"I won't let you kill him!" Ryu despite his own pain rushed forward and gave a strong punch to Akuma's mid body. Again Akuma shrugged off the blow like nothing but reached out and grabbed Ryu with his massive hand around Ryu's waist. Ryu cried out in pain as he felt the strength in Akuma's hand clamp down.

Akuma could feel Ryu's body… could feel his physical arousal to the situation. He pulled Ryu closer to him… to Akuma's face.

"Why should I not kill both of you now?" Ryu coughed in pain, and a little bit of blood came from his mouth.

"If you do that…" Ryu coughed again as the pain echoed up through is body, "Then we will never be strong enough… to win against you."

Akuma let out another growl.

"This boy could never be a threat to me. He lives for others, devotes his mind to them instead of his training. Only one who fully gave themselves to the art could defeat me." Akuma increased his grip again and Ryu almost screamed in pain.

"Will you devote yourself to the art? Will you give into your inner self?"

"I… I… will… stop you…" Ryu said as he reached his hand up to Akuma's head. Blue energy started to emit from Ryu's hand and he focused his Ki there getting ready to do another hadoken. Akuma let go of Ken's hair and reached his hand up to Ryu's face. Blood was on his hand and as he wrapped his hand around Ryu's neck and upper chest; blood that then smeared off onto Ryu flesh.

"I'll let you live this day because someday you will be worthy of the challenge." Akuma then threw Ryu to the ground releasing his old. Akuma turned his back as Ryu's vision began to flutter and blur. He saw Akuma undo his uniform top as he faced away from Ryu, and as the uniform fell it revealed Akuma's bare back. In blood perhaps inscribed into his back, he could see that symbol… the symbol from the mural only a few hours ago… Ten.

"I'll await your challenge Ryu." Akuma said as he started to walk out of the cave, "Do not make me regret my kindness today."

Ryu then held out his hand toward Akuma, still over come with pain. He then collapsed by Ken's body, his arm resting on Ken's back.


	12. Chapter 12

Setting #10: Emergency Room

Timeline: End of Ken's Training – Summer

The first thing he became aware of was a constant repetitive beeping sound followed almost by an constant yet almost nub pain that ached in his back and chest. He could feel a cold draft over his body and the soft gentle sheets on his body… something he had not felt for a very long time. Slowly he opened his eyes in a bit of a daze, the first thing Ken saw was his friend Ryu sitting in a chair, his head leaning down onto his fist digging into his cheeks as it provided a support for him. Sunlight shined through the half closed shades, and that is when Ken realized where he was… not in the temple, but in a hospital. He had not been in one of these in about ten years, back when he broke his arm shortly before coming to Japan to train.

The window was opened allowing a cool breeze to drift through the room. Ken shifted his head to look over at the source of the repetitive beeping sound, and saw a machine next to him that was tracking his heart rate. It seems to have picked up slightly in the last few seconds; probably due to Ken becoming conscious. Ken then noticed that one of the cords from the machine next to him ran into a bag hanging above him holding clear liquid in it, with another cord running down along side the bed and into his arm.

Feeling a bit cramped, Ken stretched out his body for the first time in wasn't sure how long. He could feel the pain in his body, and his leg, and that is when he noticed that there was a cast on his leg. Apparently he had broken his leg, and from the feel of it, perhaps a couple other things. Despite the pain he felt, he had been taught to live through it and accept it. After all, there was no use in crying over spilled milk.

Ken surveyed more of the room. There was a television, a painting on the wall, a handful of chairs, and an open curtain. The door to the room was closed, and the blinds on the window were also closed. The sheets that were on Ken's body covered his mid section, leaving his upper chest and feet exposed. His arms lay on top of the sheets that covered his mid section, and he laid there in a feeling of mixed tranquility, pain, and resentment.

The events of that night came flooding back to him, and he remembered everything that happened; the roof top, walking to the temple in the rain, and their confrontation with Akuma. He looked over at Ryu who seemed to be asleep. His uniform was clean and undamaged, and next to him was a folded up red uniform. Ken moved up his arm and felt along his chest, and sure enough he felt a sharp pain from around one of his lower ribs; probably a just a cracked rib he thought to himself.

Ken laid there and thought about the situation in a bit more depth. The master was dead, and his training was more or less over. The old monk had shown them the murals of those who had mastered the style, and even said that at this point it was up to him and Ryu to advance the style in their own unique way… like Akuma had done. Ken shuttered as he thought about Akuma, never before had he seen such power. As terrible as Akuma was, his mastery of the style was something that could not be overlooked, and Ken hoped he would never have to fight against such a monster again for sometime. Yet as the thought back about the fight, he could not help himself but to almost obsess over key moments. What he did well, what he could have done better, and he did wrong. He looked over to Ryu.

Ryu and Akuma, he knew they were similar. Not the same though, for Ryu lived for more than just to fight. Or did he? Ken thought about all those times that they had practiced over the last ten years, over all the time that they had spent together, and Ryu almost always seemed set in his mental state of martial arts. Even when he got Ryu drunk a few years ago, Ryu continued to focus on martial arts.

Ryu was sitting at a little bit of an odd angle, but the angle revealed the right side of Ryu's chest perfectly giving Ken a perfect look at his toned chest. Ken thought about that, and how he was always focused, working towards being better. For what purpose? And then Ken thought about Akuma again, and wondered just how similar the two were. That night on the roof… When Ryu let go of himself. Never had he seen Ryu act in such a manner, almost consumed with sadistic glee as he had grabbed a hold of Ken. Thinking about that Ken lifted up the sheet to look down below, and saw that he was bruised down there too. No doubt, thanks to all the abuse he received from Akuma. The phrase "ruthlessly effective" came to mind as he thought about how Akuma exploited weaknesses like that. Ken again decided that he would never sink to that level in a fight… even if it was more serious than just a simple brawl.

"Hey." Ryu's warm and familiar voice called out to Ken. He put down the sheets and looked over to his friend, the two smiled at each other.

"Hey." Ken said back. Ryu got up and walked over by Ken.

"I was real worried about you. I had to carry you here in the rain. Thought you might get sick or something."

"Me get sick? You know me better than that." Ken said as he waved at the remark.

"You took most of the abuse; I just got a minor beating." Ryu pulled open his uniform top revealing a bit of bruising around his body.

"Yeah. Ryu…" Ken reached out with his right arm; the one with the IV in it and grabbed Ryu's fore arm. "Did you take care of him?" There was a moment of silence as the two looked at each other, and slowly Ryu shook his head.

"He was out of our league." Ken said after another moment, "but we knew that from the start." The two nodded in silent agreement.

"I only know what the doctor said, but a lot of it didn't make too much sense to me." Ryu said after a moment, "Anyhow let's see the damage." Ryu reached down to the sheet and he stopped to look at Ken. He nodded with approval and Ryu lifted back the sheet revealing his beaten body. The two looked over Ken's injuries and bruised areas. The two had done this before in the past, both to each other in times of injury and so they were both comfortable with it, however the injuries were never this severe. Ryu put his hands on Ken's body around the injuries applying a little bit of pressure. With Ken's assistance they were able to figure out the level of injury over Ken's body. Ryu applied some pressure to a few key locations, what some would call "pressure points" in order to augment the healing of the body. After about five minutes, their examination was done and Ryu replaced the sheet over Ken's body.

"You will be out of commission for a bit with that busted leg, but I don't think he messed you up too bad." Ryu said. Ken nodded.

"Ryu…" Ken began, "Do you think…" He cut off, and the two looked at each other. Another breeze kicked up as the two of them knew what Ken was going to say.

"No Ken" Ryu began, "as long as I struggle with who I am." Another silent moment.

"So, guess it is time for us to figure out how to advance our own style." Ken said trying to be as chipper as he could. Then he realized that he just shifted the conversation back into fighting… perhaps the only thing the two really had in common.

"I've been thinking about that." Ryu responded, and then he walked over to the chair he was in and grabbed a magazine. He showed the cover of it to Ken which was of two very toned shirtless martial artist about to collide in mid air with jumping kicks. The title of the magazine was "Martial Artist Monthly".

"There is going to be a big martial arts tournament in a few weeks. Sagat, the Muay Tai Emperor is hosting it. I was thinking of entering." Ken looked down at his leg.

"Guess I won't be able to enter."

"Don't worry." Ryu then flipped towards the back of the book, "Seems there is going to be a tournament coming up in a couple months for the US Martial Artist title. I thought that would be up your ally." Ryu said as he reached down and slapped Ken on his good leg. The two smiled.

"Besides, your parents will probably be taking you back home in a day or so." Ryu said as he looked down to the floor.

"My parents?"

"Yeah, when I got you here a few nights ago, I thought it would be best to give them a call. I looked through your things at the temple and found their phone number. I don't really know much English though…" Ryu continued to look down to the ground.

"Did you talk to my mom, she is fluent with Japanese."

"Yeah, I told her that the master had been murdered and that you were injured. She was a bit shocked." He paused for a moment, "I didn't tell them that we went after Akuma." Ken shook his head.

"Anyhow, yesterday there was a message for me here in the hospital when I came in saying that they were going to be here in a couple days to come and get you." There was another moment of silence.

The whole situation was a bit of a shock to him, because while he knew that his training was going to be over soon, the realization that he and Ryu weren't going to be around each other nearly as much was just starting to hit him. Especially now, now that Ken knew about the Dark Hado inside of Ryu, and saw what he might become. Ryu needed his help to control those impulses, needed Ken's companionship to keep him focused. Or did he?

It sudden hit Ken, everything… All the times he felt that feeling, the time on the roof a few nights ago, the bar. Every single time Ryu started to loose control of himself… was when Ken was pressing things to be more than just the realm of martial arts. In short, their martial arts' training was the key to Ryu's survival. Ken thought back to what Ryu had said just hours before they fought against Akuma.

_ "This can never be, can it?" Ken asked simply._

_ "Not until I can control that part of me." Ryu replied._

Ken closed his eyes, realizing for the first time that no matter how he might feel about Ryu, the feelings could never be returned. That Ryu would have to spend his whole life dedicated to martial arts and keeping his mind pure or he would become like that monster. The most that they could ever be, as they are now, were friends and rivals. Ken clenched his fist in anger, but fought back any tears he was feeling.

"What's wrong Ken?"

"I…" Ken looked away, "Ryu, no matter what happens, now matter what you become, I want you to know I am here for you."

"Ken…" The two spend a good minute looking each other in their eyes, "No matter what happens, I'll never become like him. I won't allow myself to be consumed by the dark hado." Yet another long moment, Ken broke the tension.

"You had better win that tournament since I can't compete." Ken smiled at Ryu, he smiled back, "If you don't I'm going to come back to Japan and give you a few lessons!"

"Then you had better win the US tournament, because if you don't I'll come to America and teach you a few things!" The two laughed. Ryu spent the rest of the day at Ken's side, and the two talked about whatever, while the occasional nurse came in to check on Ken. While neither of them wanted to say it, they both knew that these last days were going to be the time they would ever see each other quite in the same way. After this they would be doing tournaments left and right, always looking for the next one while occasionally meeting up with each other and sometimes even having to compete against each other. Still as much as that all meant to both of them, they both knew that these were the best years of their lives, and ones that neither of them would ever forget.


End file.
